Coincidence and Fate
by SkeletonPinata
Summary: Rick and Evy are about to celebrate their 13th anniversary, only to have it interrupted by another adventure. The couple has issues as Rick becomes more protective of Evy due to their last escapade, while she continues to dream about the details of her past life. Jonathan also has trouble, and begins to wonder if he has any hope for the future. Evy/O'Connell Jonathan/OC
1. Craving Adventure

**Hello everyone! My name is Kim, aka SkeletonPinata. I have always been a fan of the Mummy ever since I saw it in theaters when I was nine. My love for the movie grew again when I bought the re-released blu-ray version along with the Mummy Returns. It inspired me to write this story, which I hope you all enjoy!**

**This story is supposed to take place a few years after the first two films (I did not like the third one so I am going to ignore it as many other fans do). It's going to be a shorter adventure than what the first two films were, and focus on the details of Evy's past life and Jonathan and his current life. It will include old favorites like Rick, Ardeth and Alex, along with a few new faces and a fun new adventure, but the main focus will be on Evy and Jonathan.**

**And with that said, I hope you enjoy the story!**

* * *

**Coincidence and Fate**

**By SkeletonPinata**

**Chapter 1**

**Craving Adventure**

_London, England. 1938._

Evy O'Connell sat in her spacious living room, looking over a mess of documents sprawled on her coffee table. Some were on the floor and in small piles by her feet. A tall pile of books accompanied her on the couch, teetering back and forth slightly, as if it would fall at any movement. She began to organize the papers in front of her, organizing by dates and artifacts listed.

Ever since she had taken the job of overseeing the Egyptology wing at the British Museum, Evy had a lot more responsibility than ever before. It was stressful and the hours were ridiculous, but the Bembridge Scholars were so pleased when she finally agreed to their offer. Ironic, as years ago, Evy's applications to them kept getting rejected over and over again. Her lack of experience in the field was what prevented them from accepting her.

Fighting a 3,000 year old mummy would definitely help her with the experience.

So much so that the Bembridge Scholars had to beg her to work at the British Museum, which she finally had accepted and had been working with the museum for almost five years.

In 1926, she would have considered this job to be a dream come true and taken it in a heartbeat.

Finally, she had become as successful as her father had been in his hay day. Howard Carnahanwas a famous adventurer, and he would be proud to see what his two children had accomplished.

"Well...at least just one of us,"thought Evy aloud with a chuckle. "Jonathan is still...he's _getting there."_

As Evy began to to organize her paperwork, she picked up another packet of paper, examining it and then giving a look of disgust. As she set it aside, two pieces of paper flew out of it and onto the floor. Intrigued, she began to examine the fallen papers. She smiled.

"Those were the good old days," she sighed. "Disturbing curses, raising mummies, saving the world...romance..."

The pieces of paper were actually photos of her trip to Hamunaptra, which occurred almost 13 years ago. The photos themselves showed their age, as they were very delicate and torn at the edges. In one photo, was a picture of her in front of her camel with her brother Jonathan digging into the camel's bag full of gold with a shocked expression on his face. She laughed out loud at the reaction. Even in a non-moving photo, the camera captured Jonathan's personality to a tee.

The other was of her and her husband, Rick O'Connell, smiling happily at the camera. Rick was holding Evy close to him, his arms around her waist. Evy was smiling brightly...her eyes full of light and bliss.

Evy sighed. "What a beautiful picture...Definitely reminds me of simpler times..."

_Even though it was _far _from simple, _she thought to herself, chuckling a bit as she did.

"Hard to believe in a few days we'll have been married for thirteen years," she said with a small sigh.

Thirteen years ago, Evy went on an expedition to Hamunaptra with her older brother Jonathan Carnahan and convict/ex-colonel Rick O'Connell in search of Hamunaptra and its treasure, particularly the book of Amun-Ra. Instead, they disturbed the curse of Seti's high priest, Imhotep, whom they had to stop before he conquered the world.

Then Imhotep was risen again only five years ago, the worst of it being that her at the time eight year old son, Alex, was involved. This was because he put on the bracelet of Anubis, a treasure Imhotep and a cult group following him wanted so they could raise the army of Anubis.

Luckily, her husband prevented that from happening, and the world had once again been saved.

It was also during this time that she discovered that the dreams she began to constantly have were memories of her past life as Nefertiri, princess and daughter of Seti I.

Evy rubbed her eyes and yawned a bit, putting the photos down onto the coffee table. "I'm getting older," she told herself. "I need to get a more decent amount of sleep...but that silly dream..."

While the dreams/memories of her past life are not as constant as they once were, Evy had begun to experience another memory, different from the others... only this memory was a bit faded.

Evy yawned once more. "I wish I could actually remember what goes on in my dream...then maybe I can finally get some sleep!"

It has been nearly five years since her last excursion. She had taken up this job at the British Museum, hoping it would be all she had dreamed of when she was younger.

It was far from it.

_Nothing beats being in the field, _Evy thought to herself.

"Am I interrupting anything?"

Evy turned to see her brother, Jonathan, walking up to her. He threw his white coat onto the coffee table as he approached the couch Evy was sitting on.

Evy glared daggers at him. "_Do you mind?_ I am trying to organize my paperwork!"

Jonathan ignored her, too busy taking the pile of books sitting next to her on the couch to the floor so that he could sit with her. She sighed furiously and took his coat off the table and folded it for her older brother, putting it aside and away from her paperwork.

Jonathan noticed as he put Evy's books on the floor, that every one revolved around Egyptology. Some on the mythology of Egyptian gods and another on famous and mythological artifacts. He chuckled.

"Still cannot get it out of your mind, can you?" he said with a smile.

Evy frowned at her brother. "What do you mean? I'm the head of the Egyptology wing at the British Museum. Of course I need to..."

Evy stopped herself as she looked at Jonathan, who was not convinced. He frowned and stared at her, crossing his arms. She sighed and buried her head into her hands in a frustrated manner. Jonathan lifted his sister's head and looked at her with concern.

"Tell me what's wrong old mum," he asked sincerely.

Evy looked at Jonathan, her eyes expressing her tired and miserable condition. "I...I can't handle this Jonathan..."

Jonathan tutted. "Of course you can! We put down that bastard Imhotep together, didn't we? I'm certainly sure handling a museum..."

"First of all...there was no _we_ in that situation..."

"It was my scepter that killed the Scorpion King in the end!"

"...second...," Evy continued, cutting him off, "I only took on this job because of Rick," she said. "Ever since my death at Ahm Shere, Rick has been..._protective_ of me."

Jonathan laughed. "Can you blame the man? He almost lost you..._we _almost lost you. You are the love of his life! You should have seen him...bawling and crying over you. It was such a sad sight...could you blame him for being a little more protective?"

Then Jonathan looked at his sister and placed his hands on her shoulders, his eyes suddenly filling with sadness.

"I almost lost my baby sister that day," he said with a frown. "You, Rick and Alex are all I have left in this world."

Touched by his words, Evy gave him a hug, which he returned.

Wanting to lighten the mood, Evy said cheekily, "I thought your greatest loves were tasteless women, spirits and stealing...not to mention larges sums of wealth!"

Jonathan laughed as Evy broke the hug. "Me? Steal? Ha! I merely _borrow _for extended periods of time. And who doesn't love money? We _do _live in a materialistic world. And while the last two are definitely things I enjoy _doing..._"

He chuckled at his own joke, while Evy rolled her eyes.

"Jonathan, that was terrible," she said, crossing her arms in disgust.

"...they do not replace having people who love you. A true family," he said with a smile. His eyebrows wiggling up and down as Evy laughed.

"Jonathan, that is the cheesiest thing I have ever heard come out of you mouth," she stated.

Jonathan shrugged. "Cheese or not, it is true. And you and Rick are lucky to have one another, as well as lucky to have such a brilliant son like Alex..." He patted Evy on the shoulder. "So...give ol' Rick a break. He loves you...and he just doesn't want you to get hurt again."

"It's not like I don't appreciate the gesture," she said, beginning to organize her paperwork again. "But it's just...I feel like I have gotten nowhere. Years of yearning for adventure, I finally got it 13 years ago, only for it to be stopped again because of his fear that I will die..."

"...again," Jonathan finished for her. She rolled her eyes.

"I feel like I am missing out on so much," she said with a frown."I was told by the Bembridge Scholars of an excursion being done at Ahm Shere a few days ago."

Jonathan looked at Evy with a raised eyebrow. "For what? From what I remember, we left it pretty barren there...it's just a pile of sand now! What could they possibly be looking for? I don't think they are any scraps of treasure left for them to take."

"They are looking for the Book of the Dead," she said. Jonathan gulped.

The Book of the Dead was the whole reason they had to deal with Imhotep in the first place. It was filled with spells and incantations used to resurrect the dead.

"As I said before..." Jonathan continued. "How could they think that the book is still there? It must have gotten sucked up with the rest of the bloody forest..."

"Jonathan, this book is sacred and full of ancient spells," she said as a matter of factly. "I highly doubt the book disappeared or was destroyed during the destruction of Ahm Shere."

She finished up her organizing, setting aside the last packet of paper. "Besides, the Bembridge Scholars are not the ones funding the excursion."

Jonathan looked at her incredulously. "Who in their right mind would fund such an aimless waste of an expedition?"

Evy smiled and pulled out from underneath the coffee table a notebook. She began to leaf through it.

"According to my research," she continued, "the excursion is being funded by a wealthy man by the name of Arthur Petersen. He studied Egyptology and was a professor at the University of Liverpool. When his father died, he was left a large fortune and with it, retired as a professor and began to go to archeological digs in search of ancient artifacts."

She turned the notebook and showed her brother a photo of Arthur Petersen. He was a tall handsome man with auburn hair mixed with gray. In the photo, he was well dressed, poised and had a devilish smile on his face.

"You see, he's donated a few artifacts to the British Museum already," she said. "However, I am not so sure he could find the Book of the Dead as easily."

Jonathan took the notebook and read over Evy's notes. He then looked at Evy with a frown. "Evy, have you been snooping around the Bembridge Scholars private files? How did you come across this?"

Frustrated and slightly embarrassed, Evy took her notebook back and put it away from Jonathan's reach.

"If I can't go to the dig, I figured I'd look up and see who was involved," she said haughtily. "They only began the excursion a few days ago..."

Jonathan shook his head. "Evy, I _highly_ doubt that Rick will allow you to go."

Evy glared at Jonathan. "_Allow _me? I don't need his _permission..."_

"If that's the truth, then why haven't you been to Egypt these last few years?"

Evy opened her mouth to argue but then shut it, realizing she couldn't win. She sighed and looked down at the ground.

"I...I don't want him to be angry...or to worry," she said. "Things have been so different these past few years. I love Rick, I really really do...but if I go...I want to be able to go with his blessing." She looked up and sighed. "It'd be a miracle if he'd want to go _with_ me."

Jonathan comforted his sister by wrapping an arm around her. "Rick is done with finding artifacts and fighting mummies. But I'm sure asking him wouldn't hurt. He should at least appreciate you asking him instead of going off on you own."

Evy got out of the couch and began pacing around the room, deep in thought. "You know..." she began. "Our anniversary _is _coming up soon..." she thought aloud.

Jonathan looked surprised. "Oh is it? Wow, that's great Evy..."

"...he'll probably forget again," continued Evy, ignoring Jonathan's congratulations as she paced. "I mean, last year was a bit of a fiasco.

Jonatahn gulped as he rubbed his head. "Yes...I remember you knocking me out with that bloody statue..."

Evy shrugged. "I was frustrated. I didn't mean for it to hit you."

"Regardless...it did! And it really, really hurt!" whined Jonathan as Evy rolled her eyes.

"I'll reserve us a table at a restaurant for the two of us," she continued as she kept pacing. "I'll casually mention our anniversary and when he admits that he's forgotten, I'll bring up the dig."

Jonathan raised an eyebrow. "All this effort for a lousy archeological dig? For a book that may not be there?"

Evy shook her head. "It's not _just _that," she said. "I...I also want to take a trip to Hamunaptra."

Jonathan looked at her like she was crazy. "What!? Why?"

"For the book of Amun-Ra," she said. "My guess is that when we last faced Imhotep, Mister Hafez had the book of Amun-Ra thrown away somewhere in the sand, as it was what stopped Imhotep the first time. If it _is _still there, it'd be a great addition to the British Museum."

Evy looked at Jonathan and added. "I also have a few unanswered questions. I...I think I'm getting those memories back again...a newer one actually..."

"Yes...and?" he asked.

"But the only problem is that I can't remember the context of the memory," she said. "All I can remember is me and Seti I talking about something, and then becoming interrupted by Anuck-su-namun. I can't help but wonder if this dream means that my work in Hamunaptra is still unfinished...that my _destiny _is unfinished..."

Jonathan got up and grabbed her sister's shoulders. "Have you gone mad Evy? There is no way Rick would agree to take you. From what your describing, it sounds like another grand old adventure."

Evy shrugged. "Oh please," she said with a smile. "It could be a nice little vacation...minus the mummies and saving the world bits. And with some discovery of the missing pieces of my past life, as well as some artifacts...artifacts that were the very reasons I became interested in Egypt in the first place."

Jonathan let go of her shoulders, still looking doubtful. "Evy, this dig at Ahm Shere began a few days ago. You said so yourself. What's to say they don't find the book in the next few days?"

Evy smiled. "Well then, I guess I better pack up our things before I ask Rick over dinner, now shan't I?"

Jonathan chuckled. "Who are you and what have you done with my sweet baby sister?"

Evy grinned. "I am in _need_ of an adventure Jonathan. I can't stand all this paperwork. I need to be out in the field!"

Jonathan and Evy jumped a bit as a loud _gong! n_oise echoed the room. It was a clock, ringing loudly to signify that it was 4:00 PM.

Jonathan smiled. "And I am in need of a drink."

Evy rolled her eyes. "With what money? You used up the money you acquired from that bloody diamond..."

"For the last time, it was _stolen _from me," he said as a matter of factly. "I'll tell you one thing, I will never play poker with those fellows ever again," he muttered bitterly. "Besides, the rest of my money lies with Izzy..."

"That is not _yours _Jonathan," said Evy, cutting him off. "That is all his and you have no right calling it yours. He deserved it after you took away the spear of Osiris!"

"Which if I _didn't, _we'd all be ruled under that blasted Imhotep, thank you very much!" he said, raising his arms in the air. "Honestly, I get _no _respect sometimes for the things I do...things might I add, that could have KILLED me."

Evy shook her head. "If you merely stopped drinking so much at bars and gambling your life's worth away, maybe you'd have some of that money left. Perhaps even enough to _live on your own."_

Jonathan looked back at her nervously. She crossed her arms and looked at him, awaiting his response.

Jonathan had been piggy-backing from the O'Connell's for almost thirteen years after gambling his share of money from their adventure in Hamunaptra. Not wanting to abandon her brother, Evy and Rick allow him to live under their roof.

"In time...when I'm ready..."he stammered, trying hard to come up with an excuse. "I'll be out of your hair...but until then...I...uh..."

Evy frowned. "Honestly Jonathan, when are you going to stop gambling, drinking and sleeping with other women? Don't you think it's time you put that aside to find a job? Save money? Find your own place to live? Maybe even start your own family..."

Jonathan laughed. "Oh darling, if I were to do all that, then it would make life less interesting."

And with that, he grabbed his coat, kissed Evy on the cheek and ran out of the living room and out the door, but not before shouting:

"Good luck with that plan of yours, eh? And don't wait up! I won't be back until late!" he said with a wink.

Evy sighed as the door finally slammed and Jonathan was gone. She sat back down on the couch, and grabbed the photo of her and Rick, smiling at it as she looked at it.

"It would just be a simple excursion," she said, reassuring herself of her plan. "What could possibly happen to make it all go wrong?"

And with that, she placed the photo on the table and went out of the living room and into the hallway leading into the kitchen. She stopped to look at a mirror on the wall. Staring at her own reflection, she continued to reassure herself.

"It's not like we will raise any mummies or anything," she said with a chuckle. "All of that is done and over with. There is no need to fear."

She nodded at her reflection and entered the kitchen. She began to open the small drawers and searching within the contents of each one.

"Now where did I leave the phone number for that restaurant..."

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**I hope that was alright so far! In the next chapter, we will follow Jonathan into the bar! Should be lots of fun!**

**Thanks again for reading!**


	2. Worthless

**Hello again everyone! I'm back to give you another chapter to "Coincidence and Fate!" First of all, I want to thank The Sarcastic Raccoon (Anne) and loulouflowerpower for being my first reviewers. Thank you so much! It means a lot to me that you are enjoying the story so far.**

**This next chapter focuses on Jonathan and his little drinking adventure at a pub. I do hope you guys enjoy this chapter!**

**On with the show!**

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**Chapter 2**

**Worthless**

"Ah, good to see you again old friend."

Jonathan Carnahan stood before a small, black little building. Over top the building in gold letters it read: "Manchester Arms Pub." The front door was made of a sturdy dark wood. To the door's left, there was a big window, similar to one that would be in a clothes shop. The window was clean and clear; big enough so you could peer inside and see the alcohol the shop carried. You could also see the other patrons as they drank and laughed their troubles away. Jonathan looked inside with glee, anxious relieve his troubles as well.

Before walking in, Jonathan began to fix his coat up a bit, as well as his shirt and tie, all a bit ruffled in his haste to reach the bar. Once he felt a bit more satisfied with his clothes, now a bit smoother but still wrinkled up, he took his hand and put it through his hair, smoothing it out and getting rid of any knots or unwanted cow-licks.

_I have to look presentable in front of my colleagues, _he thought to himself. _As well as for any other women who may be drinking their sorrows away tonight._

Finally, he put a hand into his pants pocket and took out a sleek black compact mirror. He opened it and began to check his mouth for any leftover residue of food.

"I'm sure Evy won't mind that I borrowed her mirror," he said to himself as checked out his teeth. "I mean, after all, she has dozens of these things..."

With a final smile into the mirror, obviously pleased with the way he looked, Jonathan put the mirror back into his pocket and made his way into the pub.

He pushed open the door a bit dramatically, causing the door to slam against the wall. A few patrons jolted up from their seats. Many of the men turned to see who was causing the ruckus.

"Evening gentlemen!" exclaimed Jonathan as he walked inside and headed towards a bar stool by the bar. "You all look like your enjoying your night!"

A few of the men's faces fell while others whispered among themselves.

"Jesus christ..."

"Carnahan is back again..."

"I wonder what kind of trouble he's in for tonight..."

"I swear, if another woman leaves with him tonight, I'm going to strangle the bastard..."

Jonathan sat down onto the bar stool and swung himself around so that his arms could rest on the counter. With a big grin on his face, he smiled at the bartender, who was incredibly displeased to see him.

"Barry! My good chap!" exclaimed Jonathan with glee. "Might I say that you look rather fantastic this evening?"

Barry sighed. "Jonathan, please tell me you are not in here trying to hide from thugs again. Last time, they nearly trashed the place all thanks to your stupidity..."

Jonathan shook his head and laughed, as if it was merely a fond memory.

"Oh that! Ha! Well, that was quite fun now wasn't it? No...you needn't worry tonight Barry. My friends won't be in town tonight!"

Then, in a hushed whisper, but not quiet enough that Barry couldn't hear it, he said, "at least...I hope to _God_ not."

Barry sighed, unable to withstand Jonathan any minute longer. "What do you want Jonathan?"

Jonathan grinned. "Oh, just a gin and tonic today Barry! Heavy on the gin please."

Barry looked at him with a raised eyebrow. He complied with Jonathan's order and proceeded to make his drink. Jonathan watched on eagerly, as if he were a child waiting for his ice cream sundae to be ready.

Barry then handed the drink to Jonathan, the drink clear and glistening as the ice made faint crackling noises. Topping the drink was a lime wedge, which Jonathan removed and squeezed some of juice into the drink before putting the remains of the wedge aside on the counter. He took his first sip of the drink and sighed, his thirst quenched at the moment.

"Thank you my good sir," Jonathan said proudly. "Please, do..."

"...put it on your tab?" finished Barry exasperatedly. "Honestly Jonathan, when do you intend to _pay _off your tab? The numbers aren't going to go away you know. It's been piling up for years now..."

In the middle of finishing his drink, Jonathan waved his hand up and down, his way of acknowledging that he heard Barry. Once he finished the drink off, he gasped. Licking his lips for the remaining drops of the drink, he looked up at Barry and smiled.

"No worries Barry!" he said as the bartender rolled his eyes and proceeded to take his glass and begin to clean it with a wash towel. "I told you that I am good for it. I just need to go and retrieve some of my funds...funds which I do not have with me at the time but I will if you give me until...oh...let's say next Thursday?"

Barry stared at Jonathan in disbelief.

_Funds my ass, _thought Barry to himself. _Everyone on the whole block knows he mooches off his poor sister._

Despite knowing that Jonathan was telling lies, Barry did respect his sister and her husband, who were also patrons of his but did not come in as frequently as Jonathan did.

Barry sighed and looked Jonathan straight in the eye. "Just get it to me when you can, OK? And with your _own _money..."

Jonathan nodded. "Of course Barry! How else would I get the money?"

Then Jonathan gasped. "Are you suggesting that I _may _borrow the money from someone else? Oh Barry...it _hurts _to hear that you don't trust me...and I give you _so _much business..."

Anger was boiling inside Barry. He could easily deck Jonathan's lights out with one swing. The patrons of the bar might even applaud him. Hell, the police may even let him off the hook. They didn't care much for Jonathan either.

But, not wanting to cause a ruckus, Barry sighed. "Just...just get it when you can. Promise me that at least."

Jonathan nodded. "Of course my dear fellow! You can count on me! A Carnahan _always _keeps his word. Now..." he leaned over the bar and pointed at the empty space in front of the counter, "how about another round?"

* * *

_Later that night..._

Jonathan sat at the bar stool, sipping at the last few drops of his gin and tonic. The bar was a lot less lively then it was earlier in the day. Most of the patrons left so they could go home to their wives and be home for supper. But Jonathan didn't have a wife to go home to, so he was happy to just sit there among the other men who had no where else to go.

In fact, he wouldn't even _have _a home if it weren't for Evy and Rick graciously allowing him into their home after blowing away all his money.

Jonathan sighed. Barry was away from the bar area and cleaning in the back now that the pub was a lot more quiet. Because of this, Jonathan didn't have anyone to talk to and was left to muddle in his own thoughts.

He began to think about what Evy had said, and how she had been having a memory about her past life repeating over and over again. Something about it bugged him, but it wasn't the fact that she was having these dreams again.

_If Evy has a past life, _he thought to himself, _then...why don't _I _have one?Why don't I have a destiny?_

It's true. His whole family is connected to some greater purpose. Rick is a medjai, a warrior for God, Alex was the key to finding Ahm Shere, and Evy is reincarnated Egyptian princess. Everyone seemed to have something special about them.

Everyone, that is, except himself.

_Not that I care or anything, _he thought to himself, _but why don't I have visions like Evy? Or why don't I have something of importance? Why...am I even thinking about this?_

He looked around, as if he was waiting for an answer to appear. He looked out in front of him and realized the empty glass of gin and tonic on the counter; his own reflection staring back at him.

Jonathan scoffed. _Oh...right, _he thought.

He looked at the glass and began to think about how well off his sister and her family was. How they are managing so well and still incredibly in love with one another like they were when Rick saved Evy from Imhotep.

Jonathan scoffed, reminded of how affectionate Evy and Rick get on a daily basis. _Oh please, _he thought to himself.

And then there's him. He ruined his archeologist career and made a living stealing artifacts from others, as well as getting into trouble when it came to money. Not to mention, he drinks.

Oh yes, does he drink. Jonathan drank so much, especially nowadays since he really didn't have much to do. No real effort to do anything.

And despite his usual cheery demeanor, he did notice how low his life had become, and it did make him a bit sad. He frowned at his reflection in the glass and put it aside. He rested his arms on the counter and laid his head on top, now feeling a bit miserable. All thanks to guilt and alcohol.

Here he was, a much older man, and he had no money, no job and no family of his own even.

Not that he wanted a family of his own, but having some money would be nice. Nice enough that he didn't have to mooch off of his little sister.

Jonathan sighed. _No wonder why I don't have a destiny or past life. I don't have any other greater purpose. All I do is lie, cheat and steal. Why would _anyone _give me a pre-ordained destiny?_

The door opened, which caused Jonathan to sit up right, surprised by the sudden noise. He turned around to see who had come into the pub.

It was a woman about his age, wearing a long silky green dress with long sleeves and a pair of grey gloves. She wore a few pearls on her neck, which Jonathan could easily determine she was of wealthy status. She had short, curly blonde hair, and dazzling brown eyes.

She walked so elegantly that if was almost as if she was gliding. Jonathan was in awe of her as she approached the bar and sat down a stool away from him. Barry appeared from the back room and asked the woman what she would like.

"A glass of your house red please," she said, her voice smooth and clear.

In only took Barry a few seconds to get her drink all ready for her. She took it and began to sip it, careful not to let her lipstick stain the glass too much. She let her eyes wander and she noticed Jonathan smiling a devilish smile at her.

Intrigued, the woman put her glass down and turned to face Jonathan. "I'm sorry," she began. "But...is there something you need help with?"

Jonathan continued to smile at her. "Oh, I was just wondering if you were new around the area." He then added, "because I would have _certainly _noticed your pretty face before."

The woman smiled, her cheeks becoming a bit rosier at his comment. "Oh...why thank you," she said, now returning a smile back at Jonathan. "I am actually not from around here..."

She sighed, looking down at her feet. "I...I got into a fight with my husband earlier," she said with a frown. "...and I fancied myself a drink somewhere new so...I told my driver to take me here."

Jonathan thoughts were going wild. _A driver huh? She is most _definitely _rich! _He thought to himself.

"Sorry to hear that about your husband," he said apologetically, placing a hand on her shoulder and giving it a squeeze. "My name is Jonathan Carnahan by the way. May I ask what your lovely name is?"

"Claudia Charleson," she said, putting her hand out to shake but instead, Jonathan took her hand and kissed it. This caused Claudia to blush even more.

"That's a beautiful name," he said with a smile.

"Thank you," she responded.

"As I was saying, I am so sorry that your husband got into a tizzy with you," he said with a frown. "I never had the opportunity to experience such a thing with my own wife."

In his mind, he knew it was wrong to lie to someone just to get them in bed with him. Not to mention, someone who was already married.

But, he had done this so many times, that it has become a game for him. He could push a lie so far that he could have the woman begging him not to leave once the relationship, and the sex, had run dry.

That is...unless they found out he was lying and they send out their husbands to go after him.

Or worse...they themselves beat him.

But, it was the risk he took doing this. Besides, who would really sleep with him knowing he was broke and living with his little sister?

_Besides, _he told himself, easing away a bit of his guilt. _She looks lonely...and probably could use the company._

Like many before her, Claudia looked at Jonathan apologetically and placed her hand over his. "Did...did your wife pass? I am so sorry."

"Yes. She passed on a couple of years ago," he said, sniffling a bit to create more of a dramatic affect.

It obviously worked, because Claudia began to pat his shoulder comfortingly.

"There, there," she said, as he continued his facade and sniffled a bit more. She then looked at him, her eyes twinkling a bit, and asked, "How...did she go? If I may ask?"

Jonathan turned around in his bar stool, looking away from her. "It was quite sad actually," he began. "She loved to garden, my wife. She had a nice big garden in front of out mansion Really lovely. I told her I could hire people to tend it for her, but she insisted that she care for it herself."

He then looked down, smiling a bit because in the corner of his eye, he could see Claudia hanging on to his every word. She looked on with a bit of a worried look in her eyes. She was obviously incredibly saddened by his story so far.

_I have her hooked, _he told himself, _Now to put out the line and get my catch._

"And then one day," he continued, "she was gardening and didn't realize that a wasps nest was growing in the garden. She...accidentally disturbed it and they attacked. They stung her everywhere, and she was allergic so..." he paused, again creating a dramatic affect. Claudia turned his bar stool around so he could face her. Her eyes pleading to hear the end of his story.

"So what?" she asked.

Jonathan looked at her, his eyes holding back tears.

_Great job there ol' Jon, _he told himself, _you could almost be an actor with this shit._

"She died instantly," he said. "The worst of it was...when I found her...she didn't even look like my wife anymore..."

He wiped his eyes, as if he was clearing away tears. He looked up to see Claudia tearing up a bit herself.

"Wow...that is _so _tragic," she said with a frown. "I am so sorry that happened to you."

"It's alright," he said with a sigh. "We had only just married at that point, so it was a shocking loss. We bought a mansion together not to far from here, and now I live in it alone..."

She frowned. "I know the feeling...my husband is always away drinking or on business. You lost someone...I still have someone and he ignores me."

Jonathan took her hands into his. "I'm so sorry that you feel so alone," he responded sadly.

He then looked at her deeply, which made Claudia blush a little more. "You have such _gorgeous _eyes Claudia. You remind me of my wife...just as beautiful and just as charming."

She smiled at that comment, looking down at the floor, too red in the face from Jonathan's compliment. Jonathan grinned, because he knew his lies were getting to her, and what was to come next would be inevitable.

She looked back up at him, and smiled a bit, but was still too shy to look at Jonathan directly. To help ease her out of her timidness, Jonathan placed a hand on her chin, lifting her face so that she could look at him.

"Is there some you wanted to tell me darling?" he asked with a smile.

"Would..." she began, her voice filled with nervousness, "would you like to come to my home and have a drink with me there? My husband will be gone for the evening"

_Jackpot._

* * *

"Oh...MY...GOD! YES!"

With a final cry, Claudia became exhausted and slumped down unto the bed and off of Jonathan, who was just as equally tired. She moved closer to him as he wrapped an arm around her. Both of them were sweating and panting from their sexual encounter.

"Wow Jonathan," she said breathlessly. "Just...wow. That was amazing. My husband _never _made me feel like that before."

"Well, I'm glad you enjoyed yourself," he said with a cheeky grin.

She nuzzled a bit closer to him, her head now on his chest. She looked at him with a bit of sadness in her eyes. "I hope you weren't...imagining your wife when we..."

Jonathan had to hold back a laugh at her comment.

"Of course not!" he exclaimed, hugging her a bit. "I thought of you and only you Claudia. Thank you for hearing me out today."

Claudia smiled, obviously pleased with his answer. "No problem," she responded proudly as she let her eyes close and she slowly drifted into sleep.

Once she was completely out, Jonathan pushed her off farther away from him so that he could have more room to himself on the bed. He looked up at the ceiling, which was completely blacked out in the darkness.

He did it again. He managed to get another woman to sleep with him. Normally, he'd be pretty pleased with himself, especially because it was with a woman of Claudia's wealth and status.

But for some reason...he wasn't.

In fact, he never really is satisfied when he does this.

Jonathan rolled over to his side, clutching the pillow where his head rested. He sighed as his thoughts kept him from drifting to sleep.

_This is the only way a woman will sleep with me, _he thought to himself. _This is why I do this...And yet...I don't feel anything when I do it._

Sure, Jonathan definitely feels the sexual satisfaction from it. And Claudia was very good. Incredible, really. Probably one of the best romps he had to date.

But...no matter how good the sex was, it just didn't feel right.

Jonathan frowned as his thoughts became more scattered. He began to rethink about his family and their destinies, his lack of money and lack of a home to call his own.

He had to cheat and steal his way to get money. He had to lie to women to have them sleep with him. He drinks because of the boredom he feels for his life and he gambles constantly, where he loses all the money he stole and the cycle would begin again.

Jonathan knew that he should stop. That if he were able to control his urges, that he could turn his life around.

But he can't.

It's not that easy.

Jonathan was still wide awake. He shut his eyes and tried to force himself to sleep, but his thoughts were still racing in his mind.

_Why is all of this worrying me now? _He thought to himself. _Why do I suddenly care about what I am doing with my life? Is it some sort of mid-life crisis?_

Regardless, he had sunk so far into a hole that it's almost too late to get out. Drinking, gambling and sleeping around had became a drug for him. A drug that he cannot do without.

It didn't even make him feel good. In fact, now he wishes that he could get out of Evy's mansion, live on his own and have a respectable job. Maybe even sleep with women who actually _want _to because of him and not some farfetched story he had to come up with in a matter of minutes.

But...he's been doing this for so many years, he can't imagine where to begin with getting his life on track.

Which, in all honesty, frightens Jonathan. He's in his late 30s, and the idea of manning up and taking control of his life scares him.

_Exactly why things are probably never going to change, _he thought to himself.

He curled up closer to his pillow, his thoughts finally settling down, allowing him to get closer to sleeping. Despite this, he could not ignore the constant thought that kept repeating in his head.

_Evy's right, _he told himself. _I need to take control of my life but...I can't. I'm all washed up...a moocher...and a crook..._

He sighed a bit, looking over at Claudia, who was sound asleep. He began to think of her poor husband, and how their marriage would be completely tarnished, thanks to this one night stand with him.

_I'm worthless_, he told himself._ And a poor excuse of a man. No matter how hard I try, I'll never accomplish anything. I have no future._

* * *

**Poor Jonathan...though it's about time that you realizes what your life has become! BTW, I guessed that Jonathan is in his late 30s since that was how old John Hannah was when making the first two films.**

**Next, we will finally get some Rick and Alex! Yay! I am sure you guys are excited for that!**

**Thanks again for reading!**


	3. Legends and Advice

**Yay! New Chapter time! Again, I want to thank The Sarcastic Raccoon (Anne) for reviewing! And to anyone else who is reading it, thank you! I took a peek at the viewing stats and it is over 200 views! That's crazy awesome! Thanks for giving my story a chance!**

**This next chapter will focus on Alex and Rick! Yay! This was a really fun chapter to write...I hope you guys enjoy it!**

**Chapter 3**

**Legends and Advice**

_A few days later..._

It was the mid afternoon and the sun shone brightly over the busy streets of London. Crowds of people were out today and quite a few cars crowded the streets today. Despite this, it did not stop Alex O'Connell from riding so fast. A few people had to move just at the last second to let the teenager through. Many people were upset. A few even expressed their anger by shouting curse words at the boy, but Alex didn't have time for apologies. He had a lot of things to do that were of much importance.

Well...they were important to _him_ anyway.

He slightly shifted the gears higher so that he could push himself to go faster. He was anxious to get out of the street. His mother didn't have time to drive him to the British Library, so he had to borrow her bright blue Ladies Shopper bike, which also came with a "cute" little basket in the front.

Being a teenager, Alex was a bit embarrassed having to ride a bike at all, let alone a _girly _bike. But, his desire for knowledge overpowers his silly embarrassment.

Thankfully for him, the British Library was only a few minutes away from the British Museum, where he usually spends his time, so this little trip wasn't as terrible as he thought.

_Still, _thought Alex to himself, _I don't see why mom couldn't drop me off at the library before going out shopping for a stupid dress._

Alex gripped the handle-bars tighter as the breaks screeched to a halt. He had finally arrived at the British Library. He looked up at the tall, elegant building and smiled.

He jumped off the bike and proceeded to ruffle his messy hair, parting his bangs a bit to one side to his usual hairstyle. His hair was now a dark blonde color; a significant change from his bright blonde locks when he was a child. He wore a white collard shirt, green pants and a black dress up jacket.

He walked over to the front of the bike and picked up a few contents from the basket: a journal, two books, and a rusty looking bike lock. Placing the books aside, he began to park his bike onto the library's old and withered bike rack Once he locked it tight with a big metal key, he placed the key in his pocket. He then grabbed his books from the ground and made his way into the library.

Once he entered, he looked around at the inside of the building. Despite how many times Alex had been inside this library, he still could not believe how vast this library was. It was filled with book shelves, desks and it was all neatly organized within the elegant building. And to make things even better, this was only the first floor.

Alex walked over to the nearest desk and set down his journal. He took the two books in his hands and took them over to a big receptionist looking desk, where a stern looking woman sat.

Alex smiled at the woman who did not return it. He set down his books and pushed them towards her. She merely eyed them and said nothing.

"I'm returning these books I borrowed," he said, his British accent prominent. The woman merely stared at the boy and took the books. She began stamping them, and Alex, feeling a bit awkward, slowly backed away before turning and running back to his desk.

"Geez, what is her problem?" he whispered to himself under his breath. "Are all librarians this boring?"

Then he remembered that his mother was once a librarian.

He laughed. "Oh right."

He took his journal and opened it up, looking through the pages before he found what he was looking for.

"These are the books I wanted to read!" he said to himself. "Let's see..."

Alex took the journal with him and made his way over to a section of the library marked "Science Fiction." He began to look through the books while also looking back at his journal.

"Let's see...V...V...where is V?" he asked himself aloud. "AHA!"

At the bottom of a shelf, he found what he was looking for. V. For Verne.

Jules Verne to be exact.

There on the shelves were his books, which Alex had recently become attached to. He eyed them all with a smile and a slight twinkle in his eyes, like he just found the perfect toy.

"Ooh! I haven't read _this _one yet!" he exclaimed, picking up a copy of _Journey to the Center of the Earth. _

He eagerly examined the contents and took the book with him, tucking it under his arm. He begun to walk away from the science fiction section and began to pass the history section. He went towards a bookshelf and picked out a book on Egyptian archeology. He smiled at the book.

"Haven't read this one in a while," he said to himself. "I guess I could re-read it again. Not like I have anything else going on."

He tucked the book under his arm and continued to walk towards his desk. As he did, he passed by more sections of the library: the non-fiction section, the mythology section...

Alex stopped at the very front of the mythology section.

He stared at the shelves and felt a very eerie presence. He could not explain it, but he felt as if he was sort of drawn into the section. It was strange, but he went with it. He shrugged his arms and went into the section.

He examined the shelves, his finger tracing each book as he read off the titles to himself in a hush whisper. He moved on from book to book until he ran out of books to look at. He pursed his lips and sighed in frustration.

"Well that was pointless," he told himself. "There is nothing here that would interest me at all. Why did I even go to this section?"

Giving up, Alex began to leave the mythology section when he heard a loud _thud _hit the floor behind him.

Alex jumped at the sound and gasped. He turned around quickly to see a book had fallen from the bookshelf. He sighed in relief, but was still curious. He walked towards the book and picked it up.

"Osiris and Isis...the hidden stories?" he read the title aloud. He examined the book cover and it showed a hieroglyphic of a man and a woman dressed in very regal Egyptian clothing.

He couldn't deny that the book was intriguing him, but he couldn't shake off this bad feeling that he had.

"Why...didn't I see this earlier? In...in the shelves?" he asked aloud. He was sure he didn't see it on the book shelves when he was looking around and yet, here it is! As if it appeared out of thin air.

A little freaked out but nonetheless still intrigued, Alex took the book with him and finally set off to his desk.

He placed all the books on the table and finally sat down. He was eager to begin reading. He picked up _Journey to the Center of the Earth _and began to read the first page. As he read along, he could not help but slightly lower the book and examine the book he found in the mythology section. He tried his best to continue reading but he could not stop eying that book, and it was distracting him from reading the one in his hand.

Alex sighed and placed _Journey to the Center of the Earth _down. He picked up the Egyptian mythology book and began to flip though it.

"Alright, I'll read you," he muttered at the book like it was another person. He began to read the first chapter which talked about Osiris, the Egyptian god of the Underworld and his wife Isis...

* * *

_Later..._

Alex was incredibly fascinated by this mythology book. It held the myths and stories behind the Gods, as well as talking about a few other known artifacts like the Book of the Dead and the Living...artifacts he knew very well from experience.

The book's main focus though was that of Osiris and Isis, and their myths. Alex was writing a few notes down. He wrote down page numbers and small sentences so that he knew what he wanted to check out later.

After scribbling down another note, he sat back in his chair and began to read the book a bit more.

He was caught by surprised when he heard a loud _CLUNK _on the table.

He squealed and closed his eyes tightly, clutching the book he had in his hand close to his chest. He opened his eyes and saw that on the table was a large bag. He looked a round and saw his father smiling at him.

Rick O'Connell had barely aged a day. His hair did not show any signs of gray, and he was still built very well. He did have lines forming under his eyes, perhaps from lack of sleep or due to all the adventures he experienced over the years. He was wearing a white collard shit with a blue tie with a brown coat over it. He also wore black pants and his favorite pair of boots. He and his son didn't look too much alike, as they both had different looks and accents, but they did have the same bright blue eyes.

Rick tried his best not to laugh at his son's sudden surprise. "Sorry...didn't mean to scare you."

Alex shook his head. "Jesus dad...you nearly gave me a heart attack! And what are you doing here?"

"_SHHHHHHHHHH!"_

Both of them turned to see the woman at the desk shushing them, her lips pursed as she held a finger to her mouth. Her eyes were full of anger and annoyance.

Rick turned to face his son and whispered, "I figured I'd find you here or at the museum, so I thought I'd drop on by after my hunting trip. You do realize it's almost dinner time, right?"

Alex groaned. "Already? Time flew by so quickly."

He looked up at his dad with an arched eyebrow. "You were hunting?"

Rick nodded a bit cautiously. "Yes? Is that a surprise?"

Alex shrugged. "It's just weird to see you do _normal _things nowadays. You really have gotten old."

Rick laughed. "Hey, just because I'm not out hunting mummies anymore doesn't mean your dad still doesn't got it."

Alex smirked at his father. "Then did you kill anything?"

And with that comment, Rick's smile immediately turned into a frown. In his frustration, he overturned the bag on the table to reveal a few revolvers and sharp weapons. No bullets could be found.

Alex looked at the guns in wonder, suppressing a laugh. "Did you _really _try to kill with a revolver? Dad, what were you thinking!?"

"Hey, these guns have not failed me," he said exasperatedly. "If you want to recall, they helped against a few mummies and oh, I dunno..._saved the world_?"

Alex laughed. "Well obviously they failed you today. And did you really use up all your bullets? And you caught nothing? Wow dad...you are really getting rusty aren't you?"

Rick rolled his eyes at his son, who was obviously enjoying his failure. Wanting desperately to change the subject, Rick noticed a few books on Alex's desk. He picked up the copy of _Journey to the Center of the Earth _and began to flip through it.

"Hmm...you seem to be really into these books written by this John Dern fellow," he said as he continued to examine the book.

Alex sighed in annoyance. "It's _Jules Verne _dad. And yes...they are a lot of fun to read and easy to imagine the scenarios. It's the closest thing to an adventure that I have had _in a long time..."_

And with that, Alex crossed his arms and looked at his dad with a frown. Rick, now looking very stern, put the book down and looked at Alex.

"Hey," he began, placing his hands on his sons shoulders,"we don't _need _any more adventurers. We're retired from that now. Imhotep is gone and there are no more mummies to be fought. We are _done. _There is no need to go back and dwell on the past."

Alex sighed. "I know...I just miss it. It's not everyday that you got to go to Egypt with your family for an archeological dig." Alex smiled as he remembered their times in Egypt. "Our time in Cairo were some of my favorites when I was younger. I can't help but miss them."

"I know buddy, I know," responded Rick, looking at his son with an apologetic look. "But you can't blame me for wanting to protect my family. I love you and your mother so much. I almost lost you both once...I really don't think I can handle that happening again."

"Dad...you need to no suffocate mom," Alex responded bluntly.

"Alex...I'm not..."

"I know she's always wanted to work at the British Museum, but I don't think she's happy," said Alex with a frown. Rick crossed his arms and closed his eyes, as if didn't want to hear more.

"I know she wants to go back and do _something," _said Alex. "It's not like she's going to die again..."

Rick opened his eyes and angrily responded, "what if she does? We don't have the Book of the Dead anymore Alex. We were LUCKY that time. Next time, we may not be so lucky. And we'll lose her for GOOD. Do you want that!?"

"SHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

Rick glanced over to the librarian, who was now even more furious than before. With a nervous smile, Rick waved at the woman, who did not return it. Instead, she scoffed and continued her desk work.

Alex rolled his eyes. "Of course not dad...I'm just worried...she just...doesn't seem like "mom" anymore...you know?"

Rick sighed. "Of course I don't want her to be unhappy...but at the same time...I don't want her to get hurt...things like this are complicated."

Alex stood up and started collecting his books. "I think we should get out of here before I'm banned for life."

Rick looked at his son and laughed a bit. "Yeah, I don't think she likes you."

"_Me!?" _Alex exclaimed. "I'm not the one who plopped all their guns on the table and started making a ruckus!"

Rick laughed and started to ruffle his sons hair. Alex scrunched up his face as he did so.

"Augh...dad!"

Rick frowned. "Yeah...you never did like that...let's go."

And with a an arm around his shoulder, Rick and Alex left the library as the librarian continued to glare daggers at them. Rick smiled sheepishly at her while Alex merely waved.

"See you tomorrow!" Alex whispered.

As they exited, they could here the librarian groan in disdain.

Rick chuckled. "Looks like you're no more liked than me hot shot."

"Oh whatever dad," said Alex with a smirk.

Rick's brand new car, similar to his old one which got trashed thanks to an old adventure, was sitting out front of the library. Alex began to walk in a different direction to go unlock his bike.

"Hey Alex!" Rick called out to him as he ran to catch up. "You know if you want, I can give you a ride home."

"But where would mom's bike go?" Alex asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Uhhh...I can work my magic and make it fit in the car," he said with a wink.

Alex scoffed. Despite being a little bit more protective, Rick O'Connell was still the same old goofy dad of his that he's come to know and love.

"If you say so dad," responded Alex as he began to dig for the bike's lock key in his pocket. He shoved the books in his hand into his dad's hands since he was just standing there. Rick looked at him with his eyebrow raised, wondering what the heck he was thinking.

"Hold this for me, will you dad?" asked Alex as he found the key and began to bend down and unlock the bike.

Rick sighed. "Fine...you're lucky I love you kid."

As Alex was finishing up unlocking his bike, Rick began to get a little curious and started looking through Alex's books. One of them in particular caught his eye.

"Osiris and Isis...the hidden stories..." Rick read out loud.

Alex got up from the ground, finished unlocking his bike. "That book is really something! I found it out of nowhere. It talks about a lot of the Egyptian mythology."

"Huh..." Rick began to look through it, particularly a page that was bookmarked. He looked at it and there was a golden bracelet with what looked like a skull on it.

"This kinda reminds me of the bracelet of Anubis..." Rick responded with some concern.

Alex shook his head. "No dad...that's the manacle of Osiris!"

Alex began to walk his bike over to the car as Rick followed him, still carrying his books. Alex continued on talking, incredibly engaged in the topic.

"You see, Osiris is the God of the Dead, and ruler of the Underworld," Alex said, his twinkling with delight. Egyptian anything was his favorite topic to talk about. "He was very powerful and always careful to rule the Underworld fairly. However, according to legend, he had a lot of human foes who defied him. He decided to create this bracelet so he could destroy people on Earth that were against him. It's called the Manacle of Osiris. Legend says that the wearer would basically become like a God and be able to change the weather, be stronger in attack, raise the dead...you know, the works."

"Hmm...kind of an easily miffed guy, don't you think?" said Rick aloud, flipping the page to another bookmarked page. "What about this?"

Rick pointed to a page that showed a necklace with a bright blue and green jewel.

Alex looked over the page and smiled. "Now _that's _the Pendant of Isis. Osiris had a wife named Isis, and she was the most beautiful Goddess in the Underworld. Osiris loved her dearly. He wanted her to be protected should anything happen to him, so he created this pendant for her. Legend says the wearer will be immune pain, sickness and even death."

Rick closed the book and rolled his eyes. "Do people really believe this stuff exists?"

"Surprisingly, no," he responded. "There's only one known doctor in the book that poured his life into the finding and researching these artifacts."

They had finally reached the car. Alex let the bike prop up against the car and took the book from his dad. He turned the pages until he got to a page showing a portrait of a man with a bald head, thick eyebrows and wearing a suit. His smile was warm and friendly, like that of a father.

"This man, Dr. Alan Garber," Alex continued, "used to be the curator for the Marrakesh Museum. He was sacked because he kept trying to prove that these artifacts exist. There is no known proof out there that these artifacts exist."

"Really?" Rick asked.

"Legend says that when Osiris was murdered by his brother Set," continued Alex. "Isis mourned him for years. She wanted to be rid of the Manacle and the Pendant, for they brought her too much grief. She banished them to the surface, in hopes that maybe someone who finds it will do good and save the Earth rather than destroy it."

Rick laughed. "That's a little stupid on her part...there's a lot of evil bastards on this Earth who would love to get their hands on that. Geez...I can only imagine my old buddy Beni wanting that stuff.."

"Whose Beni?" asked Alex.

Rick laughed nervously. "Ah...uh...I'll tell you another day."

Alex rolled his eyes as his father went over to open the trunk of his car and begin to try and put the bike into the back of his truck. "Well, stupid or not...it's just a legend."

Rick grunted, struggling with the bike as he tried to fit it into the back of the car. "Well...we...said...that about the Book of the Dead...and look what happened."

Alex opened the front car door and put his books inside. "Dad, did you hear about what's going on at Ahm Shere?"

Rick, who was struggling with the bike still, responded. "No...I didn't..."

"Someone's funding an excursion to go and find the Book of the Dead and bring it back to the British Museum," he told his father, who dropped the bike. Panting from the struggling, Rick stared at the bike and then at his son.

"How can that be possible?" he asked incredulously. "We saw that whole place get sucked away...how do they expect to find it?"

"That's what Uncle Jon said," Alex responded. "Though I agree with mom...something that powerful can't be just blown away that easily. It probably really is buried out there in the sands of Ahm Shere."

Rick frowned. "Mom knows about this?"

Alex nodded. "Yeah...she told me...I'm surprised she didn't tell you..."

"Yeah...that is weird..." he said suspiciously. "Normally she goes on about anything related to Egypt."

"Well dad," Alex responded with a cheeky smile. "After all, Egypt _is _in out blood!"

Rick laughed and ruffled his sons hair. "Yeah...yeah...I know."

Rick picked up the bike and with a good thrust, managed to get the bike into the back of the car. Before he could realize how easy it was to get it in that time, he realized that half of the bike was sticking out of the back car window.

Frustrated and annoyed. Rick sighed. "It'll have to do."

And with that, Rick picked up his bag of revolvers and opened the front door. He tossed the bag into the bag and sat in the front seat. Alex followed suit, entering the passengers seat and beginning to buckle his seat-belt.

"Hey dad," began Alex as Rick was trying to start the car.

"Yeah?" he asked as the engine roared and they began to back out and drive into the street.

"I hope you don't forget that tomorrow is your thirteenth anniversary," Alex responded with a frown.

Rick's eyes widened wide, an obvious sign that he had completely forgotten. Alex noticed this and scoffed at his father's forgetfulness.

"Seriously...you forgot again?" he asked incredulously. "Honestly dad, after how frustrated mom got last year, I would think you would remember."

"I dunno...I guess it just slipped my mind," responded Rick with a frown. "Geez...how could I forget?"

He turned to his son and smiled. "Thanks for letting me know sport."

Alex grinned. "Hey dad, if someone isn't help you look good in front of mom, then who is?"

Rick smiled at his son. Even though he shared his mother's passion for Egypt, it made me happy to see his son act snarky and goofy like him.

"You're a good kid Alex," he responded with a grin. Alex appreciated the response and just smiled.

As Rick continued to drive, he got an idea. He turned briefly to look at Alex. "Hey Alex...what time is?"

Alex took a look at his watch. "It's 6:47 dad...why did you need to..."

"Since I forgot our anniversary," Rick began, "it means I haven't gotten her a gift. Would it be ok if you come with my to the jewelers? Since you're an expert at remembering anniversaries, maybe you'll be an expert at the perfect gift."

Alex laughed. "Sure dad...but we gotta hurry! Dinner starts at 7:30!"

Rick grinned as his son. "Oh, we got plenty of time. Think of this as an adventure."

Alex scoffed. "Some adventure this is. We're going to go buy mom some shiny diamonds. Ooh...how exciting."

Rick laughed as he continued to drive, now turning into the direction that would take them to the jewelry store. As he dove on, the car fell silent as Alex dived into his books, leaving Rick with his thoughts.

Rick was really curious that a team of diggers paid for by someone is looking for the Book of the Dead and is merely going to donate it to the British Museum...and not profit from it. Something seemed pretty fishy...

But then Rick realized what he was doing and did his best to erase it from his mind. _C'mon Rick, _he thought to himself, _You don't have to worry about that sort of stuff anymore, Heck, you shouldn't be thinking about that stuff._

But Rick couldn't help himself. The idea of someone paying a lot of money for an excursion that could mean either nothing or just donating it to the museum seemed a bit too suspicious.

Rick sighed. _I wonder what's going on over there right now?_

* * *

**Hope that was OK! I hope you guys liked the scene where Rick slams the gun bag on the table like he did to Evy in the first film. I loved how the second film did that with Evy and her fighting skills as well as with Alex reading the book so I wanted to do something here.**

**And in case you're wondering, yes, the Manacle of Osiris is the artifact used in the Mummy animation series. I changed it up a bit so that it would fit with the story later. I did as much research as I could on the Manacle, but trying to find episodes of the show was so impossible that I had to put my trust in Rickipedia xD**

**The next chapter, if you haven't guessed, will take place at Ahm Shere. Because of this, we will be focusing on the newer characters who will serve as important to the story as well. But you ****_may _****see a certain Medjai warrior in the chapter. Just saying.**

**See you guys next time! Thanks again for reading!**


	4. We Are In Serious Trouble

**Hey guys! First off, thank you to The Sarcastic Raccoon (Anne) and JulietBurke007 for your kind reviews! It means a lot when I see people enjoying the story, so thanks! In this chapter, as I mentioned before, takes place at Ahm Shere a few days before what happened in the first three chapters. This chapter is LONG. It's about 22 pages, but I promise you that it is full of action and fun stuff. I hope you guys enjoy it!**

* * *

**Chapter 4**

**We Are In Serious Trouble**

_A few days earlier at Ahm Shere..._

The hot dessert sun blazed in the sky over the ruins of the once great Ahm Shere. Once a beautiful pyramid among a vast green forest filled with life (and even dead pygmies), now, all that's left are mountains of sand and small remnants of the pyramid left behind.

Diggers trudged on in the hot sun, digging with shovels and picking at rocks with axes, many sweating buckets under the heat. The dig site had many holes in the sand, one of the holes was filled with a large amount of diggers, who continued to excavate the inside of it. Surrounding the dig site were men carrying weapons and standing tall and stoic, almost like statutes, undeterred from the heat.

Farther away from the dig site was Arthur Petersen, the man in Evy's photograph. He was at the camping grounds where the rest of his crew would sleep during this expedition. The area was filled with tents, supplies, luggage and sand for miles. From where he was standing, he had a good view of the dig sight from the camping grounds. A smile was creeping on his face as he watched the diggers work.

"I know we will find it," he whispered to himself. "I just know it."

"I sure damn hope so!"

Arthur turned around to see a young man and woman approaching. The man was in his early 30s, tall and pale. Their outfits matched: beige colored pants and white shirts, only the young man also sported a blue blazer. Both Arthur and the man shared many things: same auburn hair, brown eyes and English accent.

The woman on the other hand, was a bit more tan than the young man. She was also about in her early 30s and she wore a long light blue dress that fit her just perfectly. She also wore a blue hijab that matched her outfit. In one hand, she had a light blue parasol to block the suns rays and in the other, a notepad.

Arthur smiled at them both. "Ah...I was beginning to wonder when you'd get out of bed son." Arthur chuckled and then whispered to the woman. "Terry is so lazy, it's no wonder he hasn't found himself a good woman to settle down with. No one will take him!

The woman giggled quietly, but Terry, who could overhear his father, frowned.

"Oh ha ha," he responded, putting his hands on his hips, glaring at both at them. "Very funny father."

"Really? I thought so too," said Arthur with a grin that made his son groan. He then turned his attention to the young woman. "Dalila, I believe you have a status report for me?"

"Yes sir," responded Dalila as she shoved her parasol into Terry's hands, who looked at her incredulously. She then began to flip through her notebook as she spoke.

"We have not made any progress since this morning sir," she said with a frown. She had a bit of an Arabic accent, but still managed to speak English with ease. "A few of the diggers fainted from the heat, so the work flow has died down. Food supplies are running low and if we do not find the book soon, we'll need to leave and restock out supplies. If we do this, you will lose a good amount of money."

Arthur smiled, undeterred by Dalila's negative report. "Well, then let's hope we find the book soon then, eh? Wouldn't want to completely blow all of my father's fortune!"

"Of course not sir," Dalila responded firmly.

"Thank you dear," he said with a nod. "Please, go on and check in with the guards. Make sure that they provide the diggers with sufficient water and food. We don't want anyone dying from the heat! In fact, give them a break. Those poor men must be tired."

Dalila nodded. "Yes sir, I will see to it."

Dalila then walked off towards the site as quickly as she could, shouting a few commands in Arabic that had the diggers respond in excitement. Arthur smiled.

_I'm sure the diggers will appreciate a little break, _he thought to himself.

He then turned to see his son, with Dalila's parasol still in his hand, fanning himself and looking like he was going to melt and wither away. It took all of Arthur's power not to laugh at how stupid his son looked.

"This heat is going to be the death of me," said Terry, fanning himself, desperate to cool down.

Arthur rolled his eyes. "Now son, if you _really _want to feel miserable, you can go join the diggers and help look for the Book of the Dead. I'm sure they'd appreciate an extra hand or two."

The young man laughed nervously as he wiped the sweat from his forehead. "I...I think I'll pass on that."

"Then quit complaining," Arthur stated bluntly. "I didn't bring you here to hear you bellyache over a little heat. Be thankful that we are well off enough that we don't have to be among the diggers in the scorching heat."

Terry opened his mouth to protest, but shut it quickly and looked down at the ground, kicking the sand with his feet. "Yes father," he said.

"Soon enough, we will be gone with the Book of Dead," he continued. "Until that happens, I do not want to hear you complain throughout the rest of the trip. You may be a man, but until you live in your own home and support yourself, you will listen to me. Understand?"

Terry looked up at his father, crossing his arms and pouting. "Yes father," he responded furiously.

Arthur patted his son on the back and sighed. "Terrance, you know I only mess with you because I love you, right?"

Terry sighed. "You must love me a hell of a lot then."

Arthur laughed at Terry's comment, and went on to put Terry into a headlock and begin ruffling his hair. Terry shouted in protest, but Arthur did not let got of his grip on the man.

"Quit it dad!" shouted Terry, trying to wiggle his way out of his father's grip, but the older man was pretty strong and he couldn't move.

"Hey! Is everything OK over here!"

The two men looked up to see a woman about in her mid to late 30s approach them. She was pale and had a bit of an hourglass figure but her arms showed a bit of muscle. Her dark black hair was messy and full of sand, like she had rolled in the dunes. She wore a black button up shirt that sported a golden pin near the collar. She also wore dark gray pants, along with a pair of black boots.

Hanging on the right side of her hip was a holster for her revolver. Her fingers traced the gun handle ever so gently as she approached, as if ready to use it at any given second.

Terry took this opportunity to shoo his father off of him. He immediately began to fix his hair and straighten himself out. Then, putting on his biggest smile, he began to approach the woman.

"Geez Mister Petersen, I thought I was here to protect your son, but obviously I'm not doing my job if _you're _the one picking on him," said the woman with an American accent, laughing at Terry, whose smile fell, unamused.

Arthur laughed. "Nothing like a little family scuffle to bring a father and son together, right Terry?"

Terry laughed halfheartedly. "Oh yes, yes...I'm having _oodles _of fun."

Arthur laughed at Terry's comment and then turned his attention to the American woman. "Ah, Miss Penelope Thatcher. I hope you don't find yourself too bored out here. I'm sure it's incredibly different to your home in Marrakesh."

The woman shrugged. "Oh, it's nothing I can't handle. Better for it to be dead out here then have an attack on the dig. Wouldn't want poor old Terry to get into any trouble."

"I am sure if anything like that were to happen, you will do a bang-up job protecting my boy," Arthur said with a smile. "We are very pleased to have you here Miss Thatcher."

"Please, call me Penny," she said shrugging her arms. "And thank you again for the..."

Someone began shouting in Egyptian and it caught everyone's attention. The diggers seemed a bit alarmed and their shouting was loud and clear. Something had happened and it did not sound too good.

"What the hell is going on?" asked Terry aloud.

"Seems the diggers have found something," Arthur responded, a look of concern on his face. "I'll be right back you two. I'm just going to go check on this."

Arthur walked away to go check on the diggers. As he began to walk away, Dalila could be seen approaching him and talking to him about the matter. They soon both walked together towards the dig site to see what the diggers were going on about.

As soon as he was out of earshot, Terry put on his biggest smile for Penny, which made her feel a bit uncomfortable.

"My, you are looking beautiful this afternoon Penny," he said with a smile as he admired her from head to toe.

Penny raised an eyebrow, "If you like women who have yet to comb their hair and their clothes full of sand, then I'm your girl."

Terry frowned as she sat down on top of a blanket near a tent and began to remove her boots and shake out the hot sand filled in them. "I was merely trying to be friendly," he said, blushing a bit as he looked at her. "I really do believe you look beautiful today. Truly."

"As kind as that is, I do hope you realize that you are not my type," Penny laughed as she began to put on her boots again. "I was hired by you and your father to protect you should anything go wrong and that's it."

Penny then began to tie her hair up into a messy high ponytail. As she began to pull her bangs forward so that they covered her forehead, Terry sat next to her and sighed.

"I wasn't trying to," he began nervously, unable to look at Penny. "..I..."

Penny then punched him playfully in the arm, which had Terry yelp in surprise.

"OW!" he shouted at her as she smiled deviously. "What was that for?"

"What's a little playful punch between friends?" she said with a small giggle. Terry merely rolled his eyes and rubbed his arm where Penny punched him.

"Some bodyguard you are," he mumbled, blushing a bit as he continued to rub his arm.

The two continued to sit there and watch the dig site. From their view, it was a bit chaotic. The diggers were running around and a few others were in the hole, struggling with something but they were too far away to see what it was.

Terry then turned his attention away from the dig site to look at Penny. Giving her a curious look, he asked, "hey...May I ask you something?"

Penny turned to face Terry. "Yeah? What is it?"

Terry pointed at the pin on Penny's shirt. It was gold and round, with a design of a grenade emblem in the middle.

"Do you have family in the French Foreign Legion?" he asked. "I know that symbol anywhere. A few good friends of mine went off to serve and I recall seeing that emblem on their uniforms when they were on leave."

Penny looked down at her short and sighed. "No...no family. It...It belonged to a friend."

Now interested, Terry smiled devilishly at Penny. "What _kind_ of friend? Perhaps an old boyfriend of yours?"

Penny scoffed. She got up and began to walk away, obviously frustrated at the topic. Terry followed suit and ran to catch up with her, with a bit of concern.

"I'm sorry...I didn't mean..."

"We were together for a little while," she said, stopping so that Terry could catch up. "We met under...strange circumstances and hit it off very well."

She smiled as the memories began to come back to her as she spoke. "He was..._so handsome_...and charming. A bit of a ladies man, but I couldn't help myself. Those _damn _blue eyes...I flirted with him and then we began to see each other more and more often. It wasn't too long before we realized we were too different. We both ended our relationship mutually before he left for the French Foreign Legion."

Penny turned to face Terry, looking a little sad as she continued. "He died on some expedition. Everyone told me that the whole garrison didn't make it back."

"Oh, I am so sorry for your loss Penny," Terry responded, placing a hand on her shoulder and giving it a tight squeeze for comfort. Penny looked at his hand and shook it off.

"It's alright," she said with a shrug. "I at least got to see him one last time when he was on leave. He gave me this," she said, pointing at the pin, "as a sort of memento. He promised that we would meet again, but obviously that isn't going to happen. It's been a long time...almost _sixteen years._ I am thankful for the guy. If it wasn't for him, I wouldn't even know how to shoot or defend myself. He taught me everything I know."

Terry smiled. "I guess I better count myself lucky then! If it weren't for this old flame of yours, I wouldn't have such a great bodyguard."

Penny rolled her eyes. She and Terry continued to walk along the dessert, getting closer to the dig sight. The sounds of men digging and shouting in Egyptian getting louder and louder as they approached. Terry panted as he tried to keep up with Penny, wiping the sweat off his brow and holding the parasol over his head so as to block the sun rays from hitting him.

Then, with a questioning look on her face, Penny turned to Terry and asked. "Why did you hire me Terry?"

Terry shook his head, a bit confused since the question was out of context. "Why do you ask love?"

Penny motioned her hand to the men with guns, who were standing around the diggers as they continued their work. All of the men wore white robes and white scarves over their heads. In addition to the guns they were holding, they also had a sheath hanging by their waists, each carrying a sword.

"These men are like, 3 times my size," she stated. "I'm sure it'd save your dad some money to just use one of them to protect you. Hell, who knows if there is even going to be any danger on this trip. Tell me why you and your father thought it was a good idea to hire me, a woman no doubt, to protect you?"

Terry grinned. "Those men are all work and no fun. I figured having more_...pleasurable _company would make this boring old expedition a lot more fun," he said as he blushed a bit more, making Penny roll her eyes.

He continued. "It was my father's idea to get me a bodyguard in the first place. I originally didn't agree with it but he insisted because..."

"...Because you're a klutz," Penny said with a laugh. Terry frowned.

"...I get easily distracted," he stated in a huff, crossing his arms as glared at Penny, who was still laughing.

Noticing his distaste, Penny tried her best to stop her laughing fit. "Sorry Terry," she said breathlessly, clutching her stomach. "But c'mon...you have to admit...you are pretty clumsy."

Terry sighed. "Anyways...going back to what I was saying...My father wanted a bodyguard and I didn't. So to compromise, I told him I had to at least make the choice of who would defend me."

Then Terry gave Penny a "look," his eyes half-lidded and an eyebrow raised. "Plus...that bar fight in Marrakesh was what really made me want you to come along."

Penny looked at Terry incredulously, laughing a bit nervously. "Wait...you and your dad were there?"

Terry nodded. "Yup! Saw the whole thing love! Honestly, it was incredibly distasteful for all those men to gang up on you like that. All you wanted was a drink."

"Yeah well...men can be assholes sometimes," she said with a frown.

"So," continued Terry, "after that _wonderful _display of you showing those men what for, I asked the inhabitants of Marrakesh about you, hoping that I could find you...and luckily I did!"

"So _that's _how you found me..." she said. "I guess it makes sense...a lot of people in Marrakesh know who I am."

"Indeed they did! It was very easy to find you!"

Then, in a bit of a hushed whisper, Terry leaned over to Penny and asked, "By the way...is it true that you were once a belly dancer?"

Penny snorted. "Of course _that's _the only thing the people of Marrakesh remember me for."

Penny then continued to walk into the dig sight, leaving Terry behind, who was still a bit unsure of her response.

Terry ran after Penny and shouted after her..."so wait...is it true?"

Penny scoffed and continued to walk away as Terry caught up behind her. As they began to enter the dig site, they both looked on in awe. The chaos of the site was now gone, and everyone had gone back to their duties again, as if nothing had happened.

Confused, Terry said, "what...what the hell happened? They were going bloody bonkers only a few minutes ago!"

Then, they could over hear Arthur shouting at the diggers some orders in Arabic. Penny took Terry's arm and led him forward.

"Penny, what the hell..."

"Maybe your dad can tell us," she said, now determined to figure out the sudden change of the diggers' emotion. As they began approaching Arthur, Penny shouted: "Hey! Mister Petersen!"

Turning to look at who was calling for him, Arthur smiled at Penny and Terry as they approached. "Ah...I was just about to call for you two!" he said.

Terry pointed at the diggers and said, "father, what the hell just happened? It was only a few minutes ago that they were going nuts and now they are back to their normal duties...Did you find the book?"

Arthur frowned and shook his head. "Unfortunately no, but we did find something."

He then motioned for them to follow him. Arthur walked on as Penny and Terry followed close behind.

"I think you two should see what the diggers have discovered underneath that sand," he said as he stopped. "We dragged it out of the hole and put it on a blanket over there. Come see for yourself."

As Penny and Terry approached, they looked over to see what Arthur was talking about. Once they could see what was on the blanket, the two of them looked on with wide eyes. Terry dropped the parasol and clasped his hands to his mouth, looking like he was going to puke at any moment.

On the blanket was a rotting corpse. The entire body was dark and rotted, emitting and foul smell into the air. The skeleton of the corpse was very visible and a few pieces of dry skin still hung on the bones. Penny and Terry stared at the corpse in horror as Arthur didn't seem too off put by it, and began to walk towards the corpse.

"Poor soul," Arthur said as he tutted. "Probably got lost trying to find some sort of treasure when the pyramids still stood, and when the oasis was more vast and full of life."

Penny, still shocked over the corpse, stepped forward. "Wow...is there anyway to tell if it was a man or a woman?"

"Oh, I am most positive there is," Arthur responded. "But I do not have the proper equipment to determine that on my own. Unfortunately, there isn't much we can do for this poor old soul. The least we can do is give it a proper burial later on."

Wanting to cover the smell, Penny gathered all the courage she could muster and bent down towards the corpse and began to cover it with the blanket. As she rolled it up, she noticed a small blue gold looking jewel pop out of the blanket. She took it and looked at it in awe. The top of the jewel was ripped open, almost like a shell.

"Hey Mister Petersen," Penny said as she got up. "What do you think this is?"

She handed the jewel to Arthur, who looked at it curiously.

"It looks like a scarab shell," he concluded. "These little buggers are probably what ended this old chap...or lady. These critters love to just dig into the skin of a person and slowly eat the person from the inside. It's quite fascinating actually."

"Oh, I think I'm going to be sick," Terry responded queasily, now clutching onto his stomach and looking even paler than he already did.

"Quit your belly-aching," Penny responded, looking a bit annoyed. "I'm sure if we see any of those critters wondering around the campsite, we can shoot them down. Still..." she looked at the corpse, which was now bundled in the blanket.

"What was this person doing at Ahm Shere in the first place?"

* * *

_Later that Evening..._

The dark sky twinkled with stars as things began to settle down at the dig site. The diggers were now moving on to the camp site, where they began to eat, talk and even prepare themselves to sleep. Arthur was talking to a few of them near a campfire, laughing heartily as the diggers joined in the conversation. Sitting by a tent, with her nose stuck in a book was Dalila, who did not pay much attention to the merriment. Across from her was Terry, who sat by himself near his own campfire and tent. He had a blanket wrapped around him, which he clutched tightly with one hand and with the other, held it over the flames to warm himself up.

"First it was bloody hot, now it is damn freezing," he huffed as he shivered. "I hate this place."

He looked up to see Penny approaching him. In her hands was some fruit and bread, and in the other was some whiskey and a glass. Once she reached Terry's little campsite, she sat down next to him and handed him a piece of bread and fruit, which he reluctantly took.

"Now I want to see you eat that," she said sternly. "You're a growing boy. You need some food in you...especially after your little stunt earlier tonight."

Terry scoffed. "_Excuse me_ for not liking the smell of rotting flesh." He took a small bite of the bread and chewed it slowly.

Penny smiled, satisfied that Terry was at least trying to eat. She began to open the bottle of whiskey and began to pout herself a glass. Before she could finish topping it off, Terry snatched the bottle from her hands and began to take a big swig out of the bottle. Furious, Penny glared at him with her hands on her hips.

"Oh, so you won't eat, but you can for sure as hell drink, eh?" she asked incredulously. Terry gasped a bit as he finished drinking, making a face at how strong the liquor was.

"Liquor is one of the many things that a man can drink at any time" he said with a grin. "Besides, I needed something to get the taste of vomit out of my mouth."

Penny rolled her eyes and looked at the glass in her hand. Without too much hesitation, she drank the shot quick. Her face scrunched up due to the strength of the liquor, but she licked her lips, taking away any remnants of the liquor off her lips.

Terry looked at her in awe, obviously impressed. "My God woman," he began with a grin, "you are amazing!"

Penny shook her head. She looked over to see Dalila looking up from her book, giving both her and Terry a disapproving look.

"What?" Penny asked, not fond of the stare the Egyptian woman was giving her.

"Alcohol is vile," she said as a matter of factly. "Women should not drink such strong liquor. It only makes them less ladylike and appealing to the wrong kind of man."

Penny laughed. "Oh please," she said. "little old you is not going to tell me what not to drink. Besides, I never drink too much to the point of losing control."

"Oh, stop being such a stick in the mud Dalila," said Terry as he waved his hand dismissively. "It's all in good fun. We don't plan on doing any funny business here!"

"Hmph!" responded Dalila, looking more furious. "I don't know if I can trust what a former _jezebel _is capable of."

Penny, who at this point stopped paying attention to Dalila, perked up at the sound of her insult. Angrily, she glared back at Dalila, and began to walk up to her, which cause the Egyptian woman to cower behind her book.

"What did you call me!?" she asked, her fists balling up, ready to punch her lights out.

But she held back when Terry grabbed her arm and placed a hand on her shoulder, trying to calm her down.

"Please Penny," he said in a calming voice. "Don't listen to what she says. She's not worth the energy. Just let it go. C'mon."

Frustrated, Penny did what Terry asked, and backed away from Dalila, who was a bit relieved. Penny continued to give Dalila a glare, which caused her to hide in her book even more.

"For an assistant, Dalila sure is a boring one...I don't know why my father hired her," Terry thought out loud.

Terry then placed a hand on Penny's shoulder and squeezed it gently. "Ah, don't let what she said get to you," he said with a smile. "So what if you were a belly-dancer? That doesn't make you a jezebel...it just makes you...a dancer. You never did anything immoral..."

Penny sighed. "I know...but...so many people tend to see it the wrong way...they don't understand that I did that to survive."

Penny looked at Terry, who looked at her with deep sympathy in his eyes. He patter her hand and said, "out of curiosity...how did you come about being a belly dancer? I mean...you're American. It's a bit odd that you ended up in that life...plus...I'm sure you looked ravishing in those outfits..."

She looked at him with a raised eyebrow to which he responded, "I am merely joking! I genuinelywant to know love. I'm curious!"

Penny rolled her eyes, but then she smiled at him, and began to tell him her story.

"When I was in my twenties, my dad died while we were on a trip to Marrakesh," she said with a smile. "He was an aspiring archeologist, and wanted to find artifacts or even better, treasure. Egypt was a goldmine full or discoveries and money if the right artifacts were found, so he wanted to go on a dig in Egypt before we left back for America."

She then frowned, staring at the campfire as she continued. "He died unexpectedly before we could even go. When going over his will, I would have gotten a monthly stipend, but then it was discovered that he literally spent all of his money, including his funds, all on this dig, placing all bets that he'd find something to make us rich. Since I had no money or any other family of on my own, I was stuck in Marrakesh. To make money, I began to belly-dance at restaurants and bars...but of course...every one sees it as so wrong..."

Terry shook his head. "If it makes you feel any better dear...I don't think of it as wrong. You were doing it for survival...and I am sure your father didn't mean to abandon you there."

He then playfully pushed Penny's shoulder. "Besides! You got out of that life!"

Penny scoffed. "Yeah...then I became an assistant to a man who was sacked for his theories and now everyone thinks he's crazy."

She sighed and smiled. "However...I do owe old Doc a lot. If it weren't for him, I would still be homeless by now."

Terry smiled. "Dr. Garber is an odd fellow...I do admit that...but when we approached him that day we met, he spoke nothing but praises about you. Except..."

"Except what?" she asked, curious.

"That you tend to be a bit ill-tempered, easily annoyed and a bit of a potty mouth," he said with a grin.

"Pfft...he would say that...old bastard," she said as she laughed. Terry smiled.

"There...did that help you feel a bit better?"

Penny looked at him, a bit surprised. "You know...it actually did. Thanks Terry. Maybe you aren't such a hopeless case after all."

Terry sighed, frowning at her comment. "Gee thanks," he responded sarcastically.

Penny laughed and punched Terry in the arm, making him squeal in pain. She motioned her head towards the tent. "C'mon...lets hit the hay. We got another big day ahead of us tomorrow."

Terry groaned. "I hope we find that stupid Book of the Dead thing tomorrow...I am desperate for a nice relaxing shower in a tub."

Penny laughed. "You and me both."

The two friends entered the tent and began to adjust themselves for bed. Terry laid on his back while Penny laid on her stomach, looking out of the tent as if she was waiting for something to happen.

"Hey."

Penny looked up to see Terry giving her a look of concern. "I know we hired you to watch over me, but why don't you get some sleep? I think we will be OK...I highly doubt that anyone is going to come around sneaking at the camp tonight.

Penny continued to look out of the tent. She still worried a bit, simply because the desert was very mysterious to her and she wasn't too aware of the dangers it held. But, her eyes were desperate to close, as her sleeping patterns haven't been as consistent thanks to this trek to Ahm Shere.

Penny looked at Terry and nodded, which made him smile. He turned over, clutching the blanket close to him like a stuffed animal, and whispered lightly, "good night Penny. Sweet dreams."

Penny scoffed at that last comment. But soon enough, her eyes began to close, and she began to sleep deeply and soundlessly. The first good sleep she has had in a while.

Which made sense as to why the two, as well as the rest of the camp, did not notice the group of men in dark robes, silently watching the camp from afar on their horses.

* * *

_A few hours later..._

Penny found herself standing in the middle of the desert. She looked around, confused and anxious as to why she was here. As she searched her surroundings, she noticed a figure not to far from her. He had his back turned, but she could tell who he was. He turned to face her and smiled. His eyes twinkled a bit as he ran towards her. Penny, grinning from ear to ear, ran towards the figure as well. She ran and ran until she crashed into his arms, helplessly and willingly. She looked up into his eyes, as he did the same.

She whispered, "_I thought I lost you."_

With a small smile, they both went in for a kiss, when suddenly...

"_Penny...Penny! Wake up!"_

Penny's eyes fluttered open suddenly as she was shaken awake. She sat up and pouted, realizing that it was all just a dream and she was back in reality, thanks to Terry.

She gave Terry a hateful glare. "Damn it Terry," she said. "First you want me to sleep and then you wake me up in the middle of the night and for..."

"Shhhh!" said Terry, holding a finger to her lips, cutting her off. "I'm sorry that I awoke you, but something strange is going on."

Penny slapped Terry's finger out of her face. She looked at him, annoyed at this sudden suspicion of his, but she relented. "Alright, what is it then?"

Terry had a worried expression on his face. He whispered, "I awoke to the sound of muffled screams," he began. "I did my best to look like I was still asleep, squinting my eyes so that I could see what was going on. From what I could see, father and some of the guards have left the campsite. I'm not sure if it was my eyes deceiving me...but..."

He gulped, incredibly nervous about what he was going to say next.

"Penny," he began, "I think...my father has the Book of the Dead already."

Penny shook her head, as if she didn't hear what he said. "Excuse me...what?"

Terry nodded. "You heard right. When I saw them leave, my father was muttering something in Arabic while clutching onto a black book. It looked rather heavy..."

Penny shook her head. "So what if your dad found the book? Maybe he found it and wanted it to be a surprise!"

Terry looked up at Penny with worry. "Penny...they had Dalila tied up."

Penny was a little bit shocked at that statement. She looked at him with an arched eyebrow. She wasn't sure if what he was saying was true, but she knew that Terry, despite his faults, would never resort to lying.

Looking at Terry straight in the eye, she whispered. "Are you sure?"

Terry nodded. "I swear it. I'm sure of it!"

Putting trust into the man she was hired to protect, she nodded at him and got out of the tent. She stood up and took out her revolver. She opened it to make sure she loaded it. Sure enough, there were six full rounds ready to go. She closed it up and cocked it before placing it back into her holster. Terry, who scrambled out of the tent and still clutching his blanket, walked over to Penny.

He whispered, "see? Everyone's gone. The diggers...the guards...everyone..."

Penny looked around and noticed a trail of footsteps in the sand. She smiled.

"If you are so bent out of shape about this," she said with a smile, "we can follow their footsteps. If anything goes wrong, stay close to me. I got my gun ready."

Terry nodded. The two of them then began to follow the footsteps, following them along carefully so as to not step on them and erase them.

The night was a bit chilly, despite it being a desert. Terry shivered, rubbing his arms as the trudged on.

"What I don't understand," he began through chattered teeth, "is why everyone left us behind? And if they did find the Book of the Dead, why hide it? What are they planning to do?"

Penny turned to look at him "You know, for his kid, you sure aren't giving your dad the benefit of the doubt. Arthur's a nice guy. I can't see him doing this just to do something bad. It seems so silly."

Terry shrugged. "Maybe...but you don't know him like I do. He may be kind, but he can be really nasty if you anger him. Believe me."

"Tch. I'll believe it when I see it," Penny responded dully as she waved her hand in a dismissive manner.

As they continued to walk, Penny noticed that Terry was no longer by her side. She turned around to see him standing very still. She walked back, and as she approached, she noticed his eyes were wide as saucers. He pointed out into the desert and whispered.

"Penny...look."

Penny turned to where Terry was pointing. From a great distance, she could see a group of black cloaked men on horses. They stood there, watching her and Terry's every move without making a sound.

Penny was a bit surprised to see anyone else other than the dig team out in the desert. _Who are these guys? _She thought. _And how long have they been there?_

Terry grabbed Penny by the arm, obviously frightened by the presence of the cloaked men. "Do you think they will hurt us?"

Penny thought for a moment, but the shook her head. "No," she whispered. "If they wanted to hurt us, I'm sure they would have done it by now...They must be desert people, so they are only making sure we don't disturb anything of importance to them. C'mon...let's keep going."

Penny and Terry continued to walk along the footsteps, which were now becoming less uniform and more chaotic. Penny continued to glance over her shoulder, noticing that the cloaked men were still following them. It definitely put her on edge, but she tried her best to calm herself.

_It's alright there old girl, _she told herself. _Once we reach everyone, we'll find out this was a misunderstanding, laugh about it, and go to bed. This will all pan out._

The continued to walk until they could see smoke in the air, alerting them that there was a campfire not too far. They could also hear muffled voices, shouting something in unison. It got louder and louder as they approached..

"...chanting?" said Terry aloud, a bit confused. "Is that chanting I hear?"

"Yeah...I hear it too..." Penny responded.

As they reached the end of the trail, they looked onward and could not believe what they saw.

All the diggers and guards were chanting some strange saying over and over again, bowing up and down as they did so. They were formed together in a circle, with a few guards closely watching over them. In the middle was a tied up Dalila, who was panicking and doing her best to try and scream, but the cloth over her mouth made her screams muffled. Next to her was the rotted corpse they had found earlier, now spread out.

Penny could not believe her eyes.

"What the F..."

But before she could say anything else, Terry grabbed her by the arm and they ran up towards higher ground. Terry led Penny up to a sand dune, which they immediately hid behind it's curves. This allowed the two to be able to peek over and see what was going on, but not be seen.

Terry shook his head. "My God...what are they doing?"

Penny looked onward, careful not to let them be seen. "I don't know...but...it looks like some sort of...ritual."

As they continued to look onward, they saw Arthur appear, and stand before Dalila and the corpse. He had in his hands a very big book, which he began to open with a strange device. As the hinges unlocked, allowing Arthur to turn the pages, Penny realized what it was.

"The Book of the Dead..." whispered Terry before she could say anything.

Incredibly shocked, Penny looked on, still confused and bewildered. "Wh...what...what..."

"I..." began Terry. "I haven't the faintest idea of what's going on...but it cannot be good if that book's involved. That book can be used for so many things...most importantly, it can _bring back certain_ things."

Penny turned to look at Terry, still confused. "Are you trying to say," she began, "that they are trying to raise that gross old corpse we found earlier? So this book really is the real deal?"

Terry nodded. "Precisely. And if I'm not mistaken," he gulped, looking at Dalila, who was still struggling in her binds. "...Dalila is probably going to serve as that corpses' host body."

Penny and Terry looked on, and noticed that Arthur began to read words from the book in a language that both Terry and Penny were not familiar of. As he began to read, Penny couldn't take anymore. She stood up and grabbed her gun.

Terry pulled on her arm and tried to get her to sit down. "What are you doing!?" he whispered harshly. "They outnumber us greatly!"

"I can't just sit here and let them hurt Dalila," she whispered back. "We have to do something."

But before they could do anything, Penny and Terry froze as they heard the sound of guns cocking near their heads. They both slowly turned and found themselves face to face with the guards from the dig site. Penny dropped her gun immediately and then raised her hands in surrender, as did Terry with no hesitation.

"_What should we do with these two?" _asked a guard in Arabic. "_Shall we kill them?"_

"_No," _responded another. "_Petersen needs them alive. Take them in."_

And with that, two guards stepped up and each went up behind the two and grabbed their arms so as they could not escape. The grip on the guards was strong, not allowing any chance to escape. Penny winced in pain a bit, as the man's grip began to hurt her arms and wrists.

Then, both guards pushed the two forward towards the ritual area, as the other guards followed suit.

As they were pushed, Terry looked at Penny with great worry in his eyes.

"We are in some serious trouble, aren't we?" he asked in a frightened voice.

_No shit Sherlock, _she thought to herself. She didn't dare say it out loud. No need to make Terry anymore frightened than he already was. But Penny was frightened too. She was trembling as they got closer to the ritual, not knowing what would become of them and how she was going to protect Terry or herself.

As they made it to the site, Penny and Terry struggled under the men's grip, but to no avail. Arthur, who noticed their arrival, closed the book and walked over to where they were, keeping the Book of the Dead tucked safely away under his arm.

"Well, it was so nice of you to join us you two," he said, his once pleasant and friendly grin now sinister and devious. "Shame that you had to found out by sneaking out and spying on us...that was _very_ naughty of you."

"What the hell are you up to father!?" Terry asked, incredibly aghast in what his father was doing. "I thought we were trying to get the book into the British Museum!"

Arthur laughed. "Oh Terry, you were always a bit of a slow boy. Don't you realize what kind of power someone posses with this book?"

He began to open the book again, flipping through the pages as he spoke. "I can perform spells that will allow me to raise they dead..."

"And what good will that do?" asked Penny, cutting him off. "You can _supposedly _raise the dead. Big whoop. What are you going to do with a bunch of rotting corpses?"

Arthur merely chuckled and shook his head. "Stupid girl," he spat. "My plan is to raise one particular soul to show me the way to an even bigger treasure. Something that could grant one the power of a God if found...The Manacle of Osiris and the Pendant of Isis."

He walked over towards Dalila, who was still struggling under her binds. Terry continued to struggle against the men's grip on him, shouting curse words at his father.

"Are you daft!?" asked Terry angrily. "Those artifacts do not exist! It's just an old mythological fairy tale!"

Arthur looked over at Terry and grinned. "Oh come now boy...have a little fate."

Arthur then began to read from the book as the chanting from the men began again. He shouted over the top of his lungs and out from his pocket, he pulled out a knife. Penny and Terry watched on in horror as Arthur jammed the blade straight into Dalila's chest, ending her life.

"You bastard!" shouted Penny.

But her insult fell upon deaf ears. As he continued his chanting, Penny realized something incredible happening.

The corpse was moving.

As it began to spring to life, the corpse screeched at the top of its lungs. Penny and Terry both screamed at the top of their lungs at the sight. The corpse was moving around but stayed laying down, as if it was stuck to the ground. Arthur smirked at the corpse and continued to chant.

The corpse life like manner suddenly left as quickly as it came, the limbs now suddenly not moving. A strange wispy substance began to erupt from the corpse, shining bright in the dark night. The light fell onto Dalila's body, fading away quickly as it entered.

And suddenly, as if it were some kind of miracle, Dalila's eyes fluttered open.

Penny looked on incredulously at the woman, whom she saw Arthur stab to death, now getting up and walking around like nothing had happened.

"Da...Dalila?"

Terry shook his head. "That's not Dalila anymore love."

Arthur looked at the newly resurrected Dalila, who began to remove to hijab from her head. As she did, she revealed long dark hair that flowed down to her back. Her once dull eyes now glowing with more ferocity. She stared at Arthur, who respectfully bowed before the woman.

"_Such an honor to meet you..." _he said with a smile, speaking the ancient Egyptian language.

"..._Anuck-Su-Namun..._."

Anuck-Su-Namun stared at Arthur with a frown. "_Why have I returned!? Why have you returned me from the Underworld?"_

Arthur smiled. "_My dear," _he began. "_Based upon my own research...it is said that the Manacle of Osiris and the Pendant of Isis was once under custody of the Pharaoh Seti I."_

Her eyes grew wide and shined brightly at his mention of the artifacts. She smiled, now intrigued. "_Yes...go on."_

Arthur continued. "_Because of your past relationship with the Pharaoh, I hoped that you may know where the artifacts may be hidden."_

Anuck-Su-Namun laughed. "_I have no idea where that old fool kept those treasures...But..."_

She walked over to Arthur and raised her hand over his forehead and lightly let her fingertips trace his face, causing the older man to shiver under her touch. She looked at him with deep passion, allowing herself to lean closer to him.

"_...a man of your wealth and my_ _knowledge of Seti's ways can easily find it. And once we do...we can rule the Underworld and this Earth...together."_

Arthur placed his hands on her arms gently, incredibly aroused by how forward she was with him. "_Together...my dear?"_

Anuck-Su-Namun smiled. But it was a devious smile, similar to that of a cat stalking a mouse. But Arthur took no notice.

"_Of course," _she responded.

In a distance, Penny and Terry were still under the guards grasp. Despite not understanding the ancient language that the two were speaking, they both understood that the situation was by no means positive for them.

Arthur turned his attention away from Anuck-Su-Namun to look over at Penny and Arthur. With a small devious smile, he walked over to them slowly with one hand hidden behind his back. Penny gave him a glare as he approached and Terry did the same, still struggling to get out.

"Now I know you two do not understand a drop of ancient Egyptian," he began. "But that does not exempt you from the fact that you snuck into our camp and discovered out little secret. And well..."

He pulled out the knife from earlier, which caused Terry to jump a bit. With a small chuckle, Arthur raised it at the two.

"...I can't have you two blowing away my discovery, now can't I?"

Penny couldn't believe what was happening. She was hired here to protect Terry. That was it. She did not sign up to be held hostage and then killed by a crazy Brit determined to rule the world.

Terry's eyes softened a bit, his eyes welling up with tears at the sight of the knife. "Father," he began. "I know we didn't always get along very well but...I mean c'mon! We are family! I'm your son!"

Arthur chuckled at Terry's last attempt to try and convert him. "Well," he began as he raised the knife over his head, ready to plunge it into Terry's heart. "You were always a shite son!"

Penny did her best to try and wrestle her way out of the guards grasp, but it was no use. She couldn't do anything to help Terry. She looked on in horror as Terry closed his eyes tightly, awaiting for death to approach him.

But it never came.

Arthur stopped himself when they could hear the sound of horses neighing in the distance. The ground began to rumble beneath their feet as the horses sounded closer and closer. Terry opened his eyes, incredibly relieved that he was still alive, but his face fell again when he realized where the noise was coming from.

Sure enough, the men in the dark cloaks who were following Penny and Terry earlier, were marching forward towards where they all were. All of the men were on horses, some holding onto swords while other carried shotguns.

As soon as the men were closer, gun shots could be heard, and a battle soon ensued. Arthur's guards began to fire their guns as well, trying their best to aim at the invaders. Many diggers fell as the hooded men shot at anyone they could.

As Penny and Terry watched the action unfold before them, Penny noticed that the grip on her arms wasn't as tight due to her guard changing his focusing on the battle and not on her. Taking this opportunity, Penny elbowed the man straight in the crotch, which caused him to fall over in pain. Terry's guard took notice, but before he could do anything, Penny punched him straight in the face, knocking him out. She grimaced in pain at the hand she used to punch the man, desperately shaking it to remove the burning sensation. With her other hand, she grabbed Terry by the arm.

"RUN!" she screamed at him.

The two soon began their run from the site, doing their best amidst the chaos. Arthur, who was originally hiding from the violence, noticed that Penny and Terry were now free and running away from danger. Arthur was furious, but he knew that he could not pursue them, lest he wanted to get shot.

"_We must get out of here you imbeciles!" _he shouted at his men, who were still fighting the cloaked invaders. Many horses were shot and dying in the sand, as well as many of the diggers. Arthur shook his head in frustration and turned to look at Anuck-Su-Namun, who was not at all frightened at the attack.

"_We must go! Now!" _Arthur shouted at his men one last time. He looked at Anuck-Su-Namun, who was carrying the Book of the Dead in her hands.

"_Do not let that book out of your sight my dear," _he told her sternly. Anuck-Su-Namun nodded, and the two of them began to run off, as did a few of their men who overheard Arthur's command.

Meanwhile, Penny and Terry found some protection behind a dead horse. Guns were still blazing int the air, making it too dangerous for the two to escape.

Terry began to panic. "We need to get out of here!"

Looking around for a weapon, Penny was pleased when she realized she had found a shotgun a few feet away from her. She crawled over and grabbed the rifle as Terry stared at her incredulously. Penny then stood up, keeping the shotgun close to her.

"C'mon!" she shouted. "Follow me and stay on my tail!"

As she began to run towards the action, Terry ran after her, screaming, "PENNY! THIS IS SUICIDE! I DON'T WANT TO RISK MY LIFE ANYMORE THAN I HAVE TO TODAY!"

As the two ran as fast at their legs could carry them, Terry stopped dead in his tracks and screamed at the top of his lungs.

A dark cloaked figured on a horse was racing towards him, ready to pounce and attack. The cloaked man jumped towards were Terry stood, who was now frozen in fright. But before the man could land his attack, Penny ran back for Terry and shoved him out of the way, making the man fall face first into the sand.

The two fell backwards as well with great force, causing Penny to drop her rifle. She immediately stood up when she realized that the man, now obviously displeased with her actions, began to run after them.

Leaving Terry behind, she ran forward and faced the man head on. When the two met, Penny swung her fists at him, but none of them made it. The man had more success, hitting her in stomach and her arm.

Wincing in pain, Penny knew she could not stop. She tried again and managed to punch him in the face, which only angered him even more. The man then grabbed Penny's fist as she tried to punch him again, allowing him to pull her forward. Once he did so, his hands found her neck, as he began to squeeze tightly.

Choking and doing her best to struggle under his grasp, Penny's vision began to fade, her breath becoming more and more faint as the man was becoming successful in their fight, almost killing her. She dug her nails into his skin, desperate to try and pry his hands off of her, but it was no use. Just before he could do any more damage, a gun shot could be heard.

"STOP! PLEASE STOP!"

The man in the cloaked robe turned to see Terry trembling from head to toe as he held onto the shotgun that Penny found earlier. Distraught from the events that occurred, he looked frightened, but furious, aiming the gun at Penny's attacker.

The man continued to choke Penny. He frowned at Terry's gun, unafraid. "Don't be a fool...this is what you all deserve for bringing back..."

Terry shook his head furiously. "No..no! We are not with them!"

The man cocked his head in confusion. "You're not? Then why were you with them?"

Penny was still struggling to breath, her hands even more frantic as they tried to release the man's grasp, desperate for freedom. Noticing that he didn't have time, Terry frantically continued.

"We_ were_ with them on a dig, but they then held us hostage when we snuck out to see what they were doing!" Terry trembled, his eyes welling up as he realized Penny's eyes began to close as she struggled for air, her time running out. "My father and his crew raised some sort of strange creature named Anuck-Su-Namun...they said they wanted to look for the Manacle of Osiris and the Pendant of Isis. And then you lot came and attacked us and we tried to escape! Please! This is the truth! Just let her go! I beg of you!"

The man thought for a moment and nodded, letting go of Penny, who immediately fell into the sand. Gasping for air, Penny gagged and coughed as Terry ran over to her, stricken with worry. He helped her sit up as she regained her breath. Before she could even get a chance to brace herself, Terry flung his arms around her and gave her a big hug.

Alarmed by his actions, Penny hesitantly returned the affection, patting him on the back. "Terry," she began, her voice still a bit hoarse. "What's this all about?"

Terry tore away from her and placed a hand on her face, gently brushing away any grains of sand. He gazed into her eyes and blushed a bit red.

"I...I am so glad you are OK love," he said with a smile, letting his hand rest on her cheek.

Penny, unable to look Terry in the eye, smiled as well, appreciating the fact that Terry cared so much about her safety.

Normally, if any man tried to touch her, she did her best to get out of the way or fight them off. But when Terry did it...it felt..._nice. _And she wasn't quite sure why.

Backing away a bit so that his hand as no longer on her cheek, she smiled at Terry appreciatively. "Thanks for saving me."

Terry nodded. "You are welcome."

The cloaked man approached Penny and Terry, interrupting their little reunion. Terry got up and offered his hand to Penny, who accepted it, and he helped pull her up onto her feet.

"I apologize for attacking you," he began but was interrupted by Penny scoffing at him.

"You nearly killed me!" she said in response, stepping forward as if ready to fight the man again, but Terry held her back.

"Please Penny," he said in a stern tone. "Let's here what this man has to say."

The man nodded in appreciation and removed his cloak, revealing a tan handsome face with long black hair and tattoos of hieroglyphics on his face. "My name is Ardeth Bay," he said. "I am apart of a group of warriors known as the Medjai. We are the decedents of the Pharaoh's bodyguards, and originally it was our duty to make sure that the creature known as Imhotep does not rise again. However, it seems as if another kind of creature has surfaced."

Terry smiled at the man, offering his hand in a hand shake. "How smashing. I'm Terrance Petersen. Terry if you will, and over there is my acquaintance Penny Thatcher. Obviously...you two have already met."

Penny crossed her arms and refused to look at Ardeth. Not taking much notice, Ardeth shook Terry's hand and continued.

"If what you say is true," he began, "then this could mean peril for the entire world. The Manacle of Osiris will grant anyone the power of a God. They could move mountains, raise the dead...the possibilities are endless. And the Pendant will allow them to become invincible to sickness or death. With all of these combined, there can be no stopping the person once they wear them."

Terry sighed. "Oh bloody hell...how wonderful...my father wants the rule the world..."

Now intrigued, Penny turned to face Ardeth. With an arched eyebrow, she asked, "does anyone know where these things are hidden?"

Ardeth shook her head. "Seti I was the last one who had these under custody. He took the secret location of these artifacts to his grave."

Penny sighed. "Well..I guess there's some relief in that."

"No," responded Ardeth, shaking his head. "If that is Anuck-Su-Namun whom was raised, she may know the location of the artifacts, as she was Seti I's mistress."

Terry gulped. "They also had the Book of the Dead."

Ardeth shook his head. "This is not good," he said, frowning. "Did they also happen to have a golden book with them?"

"No," responded Penny with a shrug. "Just the Book of the Dead. Why?"

"The Book of Amun-Ra contains the secret incantations of ancient Egypt," he said. "An incantation from the Book of Amun-Rah needs to be performed for the magic of the Pendant and the Manacle to be brought to life. However if the book is lost, this may give us a bit of time to stop them before they destroy the world."

Ardeth walked forward towards the remains of the site, where many of his men were preparing their horses to ride off. There were many dead bodies of diggers, guards and some horses scattered around. Terry sadly looked at it all with a frown.

"How awful," he said. "I wish none of this was happening right now."

Penny and Terry followed Ardeth as he began shouting orders to the men, who responded to his orders by placing their hands on their hearts, which Ardeth did as well. Then then rode off away from the site.

"Um," began Penny, pointing in the direction of the Medjai who had just left. "What did you tell them?"

"They are going to see if they can figure out where your father and Anuck-Su-Namun headed off to," responded Ardeth. "In the meantime, we must make a trip to London as quickly as possible."

Penny laughed sarcastically. "_We? _What do you mean _We!? _Terry and I almost go KILLED out there! I almost died at your hand!"

"To which I apologize," responded Ardeth with a frown. "You two saw with your own eyes what had happened. You need to come with me so that we can enlist help in fighting Anuck-Su-Namun."

Before Penny could protest, Terry asked. "And who are we looking for exactly in London? Who in their right minds would be willing to help?"

Ardeth smiled. "These people are great friends of mine. They have saved the world a few times before...and I trust them enough that they could do it again...However...I haven't heard from them in years, but I'm sure the O'Connell's are fine and willing to help."

Penny's eyes widened at the sound of that name. Her face turned completely pale, unable to speak. Growing incredibly worried over her sudden reaction, Terry tried shaking her out of it.

"Penny! Are you alright?" he asked.

Penny walked up to Ardeth and tried her best to speak, but her sudden shock only allowed her to whisper.

"O'Connell...as in _Richard "Rick" O'Connell_?" she asked.

Ardeth nodded. "Yes, the exact one. He has a family and is living in London. Have you two met?"

Penny gasped as she clasped a hand to her mouth, completely shocked. She stared at Ardeth incredulously.

"He's..._alive?_ She asked, her voice filled with fear and surprise.

Terry placed a hand on her shoulder, squeezing it gently. "Penny...who is Rick O'Connell?"

Penny stared at the sand, unable to look anyone in the eyes. She answered Terry's question with a soft whisper.

"_He was the boyfriend whom I thought died in the French Foreign Legion."_

* * *

**Oooh! Things are finally picking up plotwise! I hope you guys enjoyed this long chapter!**

**See you guys next time! Thanks again for reading!**


	5. Happy Anniversary

**Hello again everyone! As always, thank you to The Sarcastic Raccoon (Anne), the Guest user and penguins2399 (who sent me a nice PM) for your feedback! I am sorry that this chapter is a bit late...work is a bit hectic right now, but hopefully it will tone down a bit so I can dish out more chapters. This one is short compared to the last one (I don't think I can top that sort of length again xD), but it is still a very important one. I hope you guys like it!**

**And big thanks to Anne (The Sarcastic Raccoon) for being my editor! I usually write these chapters at night, which is why I always have a few spelling errors. Thanks to her, that won't be a problem anymore!**

* * *

**Chapter 5**

**Happy Anniversary**

The sun was setting in a distance over the pyramids. From one of the palace's many balconies, a young woman stared off into the distance, admiring the view. She smiled. Moments like these were rare for the young woman. She was always busy training or studying and never had a chance to really go out and do much of anything else. The life of an Egyptian princess comes with both responsibilities, and much respect.

The woman felt a light tap on her shoulder. She turned to see a much older man wearing golden Egyptian clothing, giving the woman a warm smile. The woman grinned and eagerly wrapped her arms around the man to give him a big hug, which he returned.

As they parted, the man put a finger under her chin and lifted her head a bit. He smiled.

"My goodness Nefertiri," spoke the man in Egyptian. "Looking at you now, I can see how much you have grown. Your mother would be extremely proud to see you excelling in all your studies."

"Thank you, father," Nefertiri responded with a small frown. "With my training almost complete, I can't help but feel so nervous. Soon I'll have to show off my abilities in battle in front of the entire royal court. I am afraid I might fail."

"Nonsense," responded the man. "You shall do well. Regardless if you fail or not, you will still be my daughter and I will love you no matter what."

The man then looked around them, as if looking to see if anyone was watching. He looked back at Nefertiri with a bit of a stern face.

"What is it father?" she asked. The man's stern face turned into a warm smile once more. He placed his hands on her shoulders and looked at her with pride.

"I believe you are ready enough for me to show you this now. Please, follow me daughter."

The man then motioned Nefertiri to follow him, which she did without hesitation. The man's pace was a little too fast for her, so she did her best to keep up without running inside the palace. As she did, she turned to see another woman staring at her and the man. Her cat like eyes stared through Nefertiri like daggers, her face emotionless. This woman's expression made Nefertiri feel a bit uneasy but she ignored it.

She finally reached up to where her father had stopped, which was in front of two golden double doors that led into the throne room, where Seti and she usually sat when dealing with royal matters. The man opened the doors and they were welcomed inside by his guards. They wore black headdresses and tattoos of hieroglyphics donned their face. Each man carried a sword and immediately bowed before the man and Nefertiri.

"Princess Nefertiri and Pharaoh Seti," said one of the guards. Seti motioned his hand, wanting the guards to get up from their bowing positions.

"My faithful Medjai," he began, looking at all the guards, who slowly got up from their knees. "Please leave us for a moment. I must speak with my daughter on important matters. Guard the doors."

The Medjai nodded, and left as quickly as they could. Soon, Seti and Nefertiri's conversation could no longer be heard as the Medjai closed the doors to the throne room shut, and stood in front of the doors, not allowing anyone entrance into the room.

* * *

Evy opened her eyes as sunlight hit her face, causing her to sit up on her bed. She pouted a bit, incredibly disappointed that her dream had been interrupted. She sighed in disappointment and began to stretch her arms and yawn.

_I wish I could know what we were going to talk about, _she thought to herself in reference to her dream. _That was the clearest vision of the dream I've ever had. Now if only I could hear what Seti was going to tell me._

She turned to see that the other side of the bed was empty. She crawled over to see a note on the pillow. She took it and began to read what it said:

_Hey Evy._

_I have a few errands to run today, but I'll be back in the late afternoon._

_Love, Rick_

Evy smiled as she finished reading the note. _Oh this is a perfect opportunity to get ready, _she thought to herself. _And judging by the note, Rick still has no idea that it is our anniversary today. This will make guilt tripping him into allowing me to go to Ahm Shere even easier._

Now even more excited than before, Evy got out of bed and walked over to her closet. She opened it and took out a silky black bathrobe. She put it on over her nightgown, which was also made of a silky black material.

Once she tied the bathrobe around her waist into a bow, she happily exited her room and headed downstairs into the kitchen for breakfast.

Evy exited the kitchen with a cup of freshly brewed coffee in one hand and a plate with a blueberry muffin on it in the other. Normally, if Rick were here, she would make him and everyone a big breakfast of eggs, bacon and potatoes. But since Rick was out, and Alex probably still sleeping, she didn't feel the urge to make a big breakfast today.

She walked down the hall towards the living room, taking a few sips of her coffee as she did. The coffee was black and bitter, making Evy's face scrunch up in distaste.

"Rick is usually better at making coffee than I am," she said with a pout. She tried sipping the coffee again but it still had the same bitter taste, making her cringe.

"Maybe I should put some cream in this to make it taste a little better," she told herself with a nod.

As soon as she entered into her living room, she jumped as she overheard a loud roaring sound. The noise surprised her so much, she almost dropped her coffee. Now a bit on edge, Evy slowly walked further into the living room, wondering where the sound was coming from.

Once she got closer to one of the bigger couched, she frowned.

"Oh for goodness' sakes!" she whispered to herself aloud.

The loud roaring sound was coming from her brother Jonathan, who was sleeping on the couch. He was curled up into a little ball, resting his head on a pillow. He was wearing a black suit, which was now wrinkled and he was still wearing his loafers, which rested on the couch cushions, making them dirty. His hair was a bit untidy and his face was full of stubble, with a bit of drool coming out of his mouth as he snored. In one hand, he held a half finished wine bottle.

_Oh great, _thought Evy. _He got into our wine cabinet. Just fantastic, Jonathan. You're a grade A brother._

Evy let out a frustrated sigh as she set down her coffee and muffin on the table. She went over to Jonathan and before thinking of anything else, she grabbed his legs, lifted them up and slid them off the couch.

_No shoes on the couch, _she thought to herself. _He should know better._

Now Jonathan was in a more uncomfortable position, but he still slept without a problem. This made Evy even more frustrated. She grabbed the pillow he was sleeping on and whacked him over the head with it.

Immediately, Jonathan sat up on the couch and screamed a bit from the sudden rude awakening. He turned to see his sister, pillow in hand, crossing her arms and looking incredibly upset. He rubbed his head, which was now in pain thanks to Evy, but mainly thanks to the bottle of wine he had in his hand.

"Geez Evy," he began as he yawned, still a bit sleepy. "Can't you find another way to wake me up that doesn't include hurting your big brother?"

"Oh shut up," responded Evy angrily. "You were out late again, weren't you?"

Jonathan took the wine bottle in his hand and took a swig of it as he stretched his other arm. Frustrated, Evy snatched the bottle from him and set it on the table. Jonathan scoffed and rolled his eyes at her action.

"Since when do you start asking me questions of my whereabouts?" he asked.

"Since you've been causing a bit of trouble again," she responded with a frown. "Yesterday, I had to shoo some men away who were looking for you. One of them said you slept with his wife."

Jonathan laughed. "Are you serious? Oh, he needn't worry about me and his wife messing around anymore. I told Claudia we were done before going to a party the other night. Girl was heartbroken, but I'm sure she'll understand."

With a big sigh, Evy sat down next to Jonathan and looked at him with concern. "Honestly Jonathan, does it even make you feel bad that you're ruining a relationship? This Claudia and her husband may separate over this. Doesn't that even make you feel bad?"

Jonathan knew the answer. Of course he felt bad about it. Even with him being the playboy that he is, he doesn't like the idea of breaking up a relationship due to his selfishness.

So he doesn't dwell on it.

Jonathan looked up at his sister with a frown, shaking his head. "She was willing to mess around, so why should I be held to blame? It takes two to tango, my dear sister."

Evy shook her head. "Jonathan," she began, her voice soft and full of concern. "Does it even bother you that you have yet to find someone to settle down with?"

Jonathan scoffed at the question. He took the wine bottle from the table where Evy had last placed it and took a big gulp from it before continuing.

"Evy darling, I think it's a little too late for that," he said with a frown.

"Oh don't give me that," scolded Evy. "It is never too late to find someone you love. I'm sure if you stopped preying on rich, married women, maybe you'd have a chance at finding someone compatible."

Jonathan looked at his sister with a grin on his face. "Love? Oh please Evy... as if you could ever see me in love with anyone. Besides, like I said, I'm a bit late in the game to start looking for a wife... like I would want one anyways... Besides, I am content with the way things are now. Sleeping with women and leaving them the next day leads for satisfaction and no emotional problems or attachments."

Evy frowned at Jonathan's comment. Despite his playboy like attitude, it made Evy sad to see how her brother's mind worked when it came to women. Not giving up, she placed a hand on his shoulder and squeezed it gently, smiling at him a bit.

"Just you wait Jonathan," she said, the confidence in her voice rising. "One day, when you meet the right girl for you, you'll just stare... wondering who she is, where's she's been...you'll just be lost for a few minutes looking at that person. When that happens to you...you'll know that you found the one."

Jonathan tried his best to suppress the laughter building inside of him from his sister's comments. He knew that she was trying to encourage him to look for someone, but his mind was made up. He knew that his time looking for a girl was done and that all was left for him was sleeping around.

Wanting to change the subject, Jonathan smiled at Evy and took her hand that was resting on his shoulder and squeezed it tightly. "Is that how you felt when you first met Rick? I distinctly remember you saying that he...oh what was it?"

And then, in his best high-pitched voice, Jonathan did his best to impersonate his sister.

"I think he's filthy, rude, a complete scoundrel. I don't like him one bit!"

Evy crossed her arms, a bit insulted but also slightly amused at her brother's surprisingly spot on impersonation of her. Of course, she wouldn't admit it to him. Grabbing the pillow she used earlier, she hit Jonathan over the head again, which made her giggle.

"Obviously it wasn't love at first sight," she said as Jonathan rubbed his head, frustrated at his sister's actions. "I thought he looked rather handsome when we met up with him in Giza but it wasn't until we were at the Bedouin trading post that I think we both began to think differently about one another."

Jonathan gave her a toothy grin. "Obviously he's not a scoundrel anymore."

Evy smirked in return. "If Rick was a scoundrel before we met, it should give you some hope at finding a woman for yourself!"

Jonathan's grin fell at those words as Evy began to laugh. He opened his mouth to say something, but then quickly shut it. He had no comeback.

"Touché, baby sister," he said, completely defeated but still impressed. "I mean, how can I argue with great results? Today is yours and Rick's anniversary, if I'm not mistaken?"

Evy smiled. "Yes... it's strange how quickly time has flown by. It still feels like it was only yesterday we were out saving the world, fighting mummies... the whole shebang."

Jonathan rolled his eyes. "Yes, yes... and I'm sure you two lovebirds have some wonderful thing planned for the evening no doubt...unless Rick forgot again in which case I may just hide before you go in hitting me!"

Evy laughed. "Oh, you needn't worry about that, Jonathan." She then smiled mischievously, grinning from ear to ear at her brother, who wasn't sure how to respond.

Jonathan merely laughed nervously. "Ah yes... well... I hope so!"

Evy took a bite out of her muffin and then with a napkin, dabbed her mouth a bit before continuing. "Now... I have some reservations for a restaurant tonight with Rick. Can I trust you to take care of Alex tonight?"

Jonathan groaned a bit. "Ah... yes... well... you see..."

"The pub can wait another night Jonathan," she said sternly as she took a sip of her coffee, shuddering at the bitterness. "Besides, it could save you another night of running away from someone who wants to kick your arse."

Jonathan huffed and crossed his arms. "I do not _run away," _he said in a whiny tone, similar to that of a five year old.

Evy shook her head, not believing him for a second. "Either way... you owe me."

Jonathan looked at her incredulously. "Okay! I get it! I live under your house! I am a huge failure! That doesn't mean I am your babysitter!"

Evy frowned, feeling a bit guilty for his outburst even if he was acting like a child. "Oh Jonathan, you know I didn't mean it that way!"

She walked over to her brother and hugged him. He hesitated for a bit, but then returned it.

"You are not a failure Jonathan," she said with a smile, breaking the hug and looking at her brother. "Some people are just slow bloomers. But I know that sooner or later not only will you find someone right for you, but you'll also do something that will make us all proud."

Jonathan smiled warmly at Evy. Despite everything he has done wrong in his life, his little sister still had faith in him. Evy had always been an optimist, even when it came to him. Despite him feeling otherwise, Jonathan didn't want to ruin the mood. He merely nodded at her and patted her on the shoulder.

"Thanks Evy," he said. "Means a lot to hear you say that."

Evy then smiled innocently at her brother, her eyes getting bigger. "So..." she began, batting her eyelashes. "Can we please count on you to watch over Alex tonight?"

Jonathan sighed. How could he say no now after the small moment they just had?

"Fine," he responded. "I'll watch over the little tyke. He's not so little anymore though. He's old enough to watch himself."

"Well I'm okay with him going off to libraries and the museum," she said. "But after we had a few intruders five years ago, I'd rather not risk him getting kidnapped again."

"You are too overbearing on the boy," Jonathan replied. "He can handle it! I'm sure he can! He brought you back to life didn't he?"

Evy smiled brightly. "He did indeed. But still..."

"Yes, yes," responded Jonathan, cutting her off. "I'll watch over Alex. You needn't worry."

Evy smiled and gave her brother another quick hug, "Thanks Jonathan," she said. "I knew I could count on you."

"Anytime, love," he responded, breaking the hug. "Now, I'll leave you alone to eat your breakfast. I think I need to clean up a bit. Despite not looking for love, this old chap still needs to look sharp."

Evy shook her head and laughed at Jonathan's comment. He then walked away and left Evy alone in the living room. Sighing happily, she sat down on the couch where Jonathan was sleeping. She frowned at the marks of dirt that his shoes left from sleeping on the couch.

"I guess I'll ask the maid to clean that today," she said with a frown.

She ignored the stain and went on to enjoy her breakfast, enjoying her muffin and giving up on the coffee and leaving it to get cold. As she ate, she began to ponder about her dream, and what it could all mean... and even more importantly, what it would lead to...

* * *

Alex ran downstairs as quickly as he could. He could not believe that it was already noon and that his mother made no attempt to wake him. He came down in a hurry with his usual attire on, only now donning a blue and silver tie. His hair was still a bit mangled but he didn't mind it much at all. He merely let his fingers comb through his hair and considered it done.

As he reached the bottom steps, he took one big leap and landed on the ground. He then continued to run into the kitchen, ready to get something quick to eat before another day at the library again. As soon as he entered the kitchen, he noticed his mother, sitting at a table, writing some notes away on her pad.

Evy looked up to see Alex and gave him a stern look. "Alex, how many times do I have to tell you not to run in the house?"

Alex frowned and crossed his arms. "Well, good morning to you too," he muttered in a frustrated tone.

"Actually it's more like good afternoon," Evy responded back with a wink, smiling. Alex laughed.

"Good one Mum," he said sarcastically. He then went over to his mother to give her a hug, which she returned right back.

"Happy anniversary, Mum," he said.

"Oh thank you darling," she responded with a smile. "Something tells me that this year is going to be a very special anniversary."

Alex broke the hug. "Why do you say that Mum?"

Evy then smiled mischievously. "Well," she began. "Let's just say... we might be packing our bags to go on an adventure soon."

Alex's eyes widened at that comment. It had been nearly five years since they last had an adventure. All he had done since then was engulf himself in books and research. The very idea of going out and actually doing it all again seemed like a dream come true.

Almost _too good..._

"Mum," Alex began, a bit skeptical. "Please...as if Dad would ever let any of us go back. Ever since your "_death_," he is taking extreme precautions to make sure that doesn't happen again!"

Evy, still smiling, giggled at his comment. "Oh, I know... but something tells me your father might have forgotten our anniversary again. I am going to take him out and when he admits to forgetting, I will guilt trip him into taking us to Ahm Shere and Hamunaptra! He'll have to allow us to go after forgetting our anniversary twice."

Alex eyes widened again. It was true, his dad was pretty forgetful when it came to things like these. His mind was usually on other matters. Normally a plan like this would work...

If he didn't reminded his father the other day that it was their anniversary...

Not wanting to tell his mother that his dad _did _know it was their anniversary, he just smiled nervously and nodded.

"That sounds... _great, _Mum," he responded hesitantly. "I really do hope that it works out for you."

Evy scoffed a bit, waving her hand dismissively. "Oh... it will most definitely work out. You needn't worry."

_Actually, _Alex thought to himself, _I think I do._

Alex the began to slowly back out of the kitchen as his mother turned around to sit back down and continue with her notes.

"Um... I think I'm going to go and spend a bit of time at the library, Mum," he said, wanting to get out of there as quickly as he could.

"Alright dear," responded Evy, continuing her notes. "But don't forget to be back at seven. Jonathan will be watching over you while we are out."

"No worries Mum," he said with a worried look on his face that his mother thankfully paid no attention to. "I'll be back in time. See you later!"

And with that, he left the kitchen and made his way out the door. He couldn't believe what he had just done. Not only did he ruin his mother's plans, but this anniversary could be the worst since they were both going to butt heads on the subject. And the very idea of them fighting again on their anniversary worried Alex so much, he almost didn't want to be around when it happened.

_Oh Christ, what have I done? _He thought out loud. _I may have single handled started the beginning of the end of their marriage! Oh no... I hope and pray that tonight goes without a hitch..._

* * *

So...I think we can all agree that the next chapter should be...an interesting one. The next one will of course focus on Evy and Rick together! I am excited to write one of my favorite couples interacting with each other. Until next time!

Thanks again for reading!


	6. Here We Go Again

**Finally! A new chapter after about a week! This one took a LONG time to write. I was having some issues with the chapter, having to rewrite some parts and things but now I think it is ready!**

**Thanks again to The Sarcastic Raccoon (Anne) for reviewing and editing! You are seriously the best! And thank you to everyone who has been reading and faving the story. You guys are great too! So far, the story has had over 700 views. That is INSANE! Thanks so much guys!**

**So...this chapter is going to focus on Evy and Rick, which was incredibly fun to write! But enough of my blabbing, enjoy the new chapter!**

* * *

**Chapter 6**

**Here We Go Again**

_Later that night..._

"Oh sir, that looks great on you!"

Rick O'Connell looked at himself in the mirror with a big smile as he turned from side to side. He was at a tailor getting a suit fixed up and ready. The tailor who had spoken walked over to him and helped him adjust his collar and sleeves.

"This suit fits you perfectly now and might I say, you look rather dashing in it," said the tailor with a thick British accent. "I'm sure the missus will be quite impressed."

Rick smiled at the man. "Thanks... I really appreciate your help."

The tailor nodded, stepping back a few steps to allow Rick some space.

"I will be in the back for a bit," he said, as he began to walk out of the dressing room. "Please let me know when you are ready to pay and take the suit home."

"Will do," Rick responded and the tailor left, leaving him alone with himself and a mirror.

Rick sighed as he went to fiddle with the collar of his suit. It was black with a tie on it. He was never really one to wear ties but today was a special occasion, and he wanted to look his best for Evy. Besides, he had to make up for forgetting their anniversary last time.

Still, Rick could not help but loosen the tie a bit so that it would not be so constrained to his neck. Doing this made the tie look a bit unprofessional and sloppy, but he figured that one small detail out of place wouldn't matter too much to Evy... hopefully.

"Thirteen years," he said to himself as he stopped fiddling with his ties and now focusing on his hair and combing it back with his fingers. "I still can't believe it's been that long."

Rick remembered a time when marriage was the last thing he ever considered doing. It wasn't that he was looking to just mess around with women, even though in his earlier years, he did do a lot of that. No. He just never really considered the idea of there being a woman that he would be willing to settle down with.

No one really made the cut out of everyone he met. All the women he met were beautiful and unique in one way, but none of them he considered himself to be in love with.

And then Evy came a long.

At first sight, she was just a plain, prim and proper woman who dressed in manly fashions and had a bit of a temper when it came to him. She was the reason he was alive today. Literally. Had she not haggled with the warden to let him go, he would not be in this suit, reminiscing of old times.

He never really saw her as much until her fashion and attitude towards him changed at the Bedouin trading post. When she stepped out of the tent, she was wearing a much more fitting black dress, which looked fantastic on her. He remembered being memorized by not just her outfit change, but her eyes and smile. Something from that point on made Rick see Evy in a different light than before.

And after their battle with Imhotep, they cemented their love for one another with a kiss. Rick had had a lot of kisses with a lot of women in his time. But this kiss with Evy was different... there was more meaning behind it, and it was passionate and sweet, all at the same time. What made it different was the fact that he was sharing a kiss with the women he had fallen in love with.

"And the rest, they say, is history," he said to himself with a soft chuckle.

Rick shook his head as he stopped reminiscing about the past. He let his fingers pass through his hair one more time and decided to look at himself in the mirror one last time before letting the tailor know he was finished.

When he looked up, he did not expect to see what he saw.

In the mirror, he no longer saw himself in the suit anymore, but in a different outfit. He was wearing his white collard shirt with brown suspenders and brown pants. His tie was replaced with his old blue bandana, and he now had his holsters where he would keep his guns.

"What the..."

He stared at himself, unable to believe what was going on. Voices in his head began to echo. He was unable to make them out at first, but then he realized.

These were the noises of him fighting Imhotep in the past.

Rick rubbed his eyes and blinked a few times, trying to see if the image would disappear. Sure enough, when he opened his eyes, all he saw was his original reflection staring back at him in the black suit.

"Mister O'Connell?" called out a distant voice from the back. It was the tailor, and there was some concern in his voice. "Is everything alright in there?"

A little bit afraid at the random visual he got, he did his best to shake it off. "Yeah, I'm fine. No worries," he said nervously. "I'll be out in just a sec!"

Rick turned back into the mirror and got up a bit closer. He rubbed his eyes and started to pinch the skin of his arm to see if he was dreaming. Sure enough, the sharp pain of his own strength caused him to squeal.

Rubbing his arm, he stared at his reflection again with much frustration. Tired and giving up, Rick began to exit the room, still thinking about what he had just seen.

_What the hell was that all about?_

* * *

Rick had just gotten out of the tailor's and was now entering his car. He decided to wear the suit out and put his street clothes in the back, carelessly throwing them onto the seat. He then went into the front of the car and began to head to the florist shop before heading for home.

Next to his seat was a sloppily wrapped gift for Evy. He smiled at the gift, proud of his gift-wrapping abilities.

_Alex did good on helping me choose the gift, _he thought to himself.

As he began to drive out, his mind wandered to his little vision in the mirror. He was still a bit bewildered by it. Part of him did not want to know why he saw what he saw, but the other part of him knew exactly why.

Despite denying it and despite wanting to keep his family safe, Rick O'Connell missed going on adventures and archeological digs.

And how could he not? He had been going on adventures ever since he got out of the orphanage at Cairo. He used to love getting into trouble and then found he loved saving the world even more.

But then it all changed five years ago. Seeing Evy die before his very eyes just... _changed_ everything for him. He realized that despite how much he loved the adventures he and Evy had shared, he did not want to risk the life of his family ever again. So he made sure that Evy got the job with the Bembridge Scholars at the museum. Sure, there was a lot of arguing. Rick tried so hard to convince her why he wanted to retire from it all, but for a long time, Evy fought him. She was a stubborn woman and would not let him win.

Finally, she let up and agreed to take on the job at the British Museum, which put a lot of stress off of Rick. However, the need for an adventure had been growing in him over the years. If he was feeling like that, who knew how Evy must have felt.

However, no matter how any of them felt, they had to not give in. Not just for Evy, but for Alex as well.

Doing his best to try and stop thinking about all of this, Rick took a quick look at his watch. It was now 6:15.

"I better make this florist trip quick," he told himself. "Evy hates it when I don't get home before seven."

And with that, Rick focused on getting his last errand done. Besides... today was his anniversary. It was going to be a good day and he wanted it to be special. It was rare when he and Evy really got to spend alone time together, so he was really looking forward to it.

* * *

Alex practically tossed his mother's bike on the front steps of the mansion before bolting it up the steps. He was usually better about putting things away, but today he felt like the maids could clean it up for him. He did not want to be around when his mom realized that he blabbed to his dad about their anniversary.

His suit was in complete disarray. His tie was askew, his cuffs all wrinkled and even his hair was untidy. He quickly looked at his watch. It read 7:01. He dug into his pockets for the house key, but was having difficulty finding it.

"C'mon! C'mon!" he said to himself frantically, desperate to find it. Luck was finally on his side when he found it. He shoved the key into the lock and opened the door. Before heading inside, he poked his head into the door and looked around for any sign of his mom. Sure enough, the whole house was empty. He didn't even see any maids walking by.

Taking this opportunity, Alex slowly closed the door so as not to make noise. He walked a little fast but not too fast so his shoes didn't make any noise. Just as he was about to head up to the staircase...

"You are late!"

Alex wanted to make a face but he did not want his mom to see. At the top of the staircase was his mom, her arms crossed, looking displeased. She looked lovely, as she was wearing a black silky dress that fit her body perfectly. There were thin straps, but on top of them were silky sleeves that bared her arms in the most elegant way. Her hair had many curls, and her eyes were in their traditional smoky eyeliner.

Alex shrugged as his mother came down the steps towards him. "Not really... I came home just in time actually."

Before Alex could make another run for it, Evy grabbed him and began to fuss over his untidy appearance. Alex protested but Evy continued to do it, more worried about how he looked than how he felt.

"My goodness, Alex, you are a mess!" she exclaimed as she tried to comb out the knots out of his hair with her fingertips. "What in the world were you doing today?"

"OW! Mum!" he shouted in protest. "I was rushing home so you wouldn't get mad at me! Obviously my efforts were in vain."

Evy shook her head at him as she began to fumble with his suit jacket, doing her best to straighten it out. "You and your father are just alike. Neither of you know when to come home early."

Alex sighed. He looked a bit anxious as he watched his mother continue to fumble with him. He knew that she was in for possibly a terrible night.

_Maybe I should try and warn her before Dad comes, _he thought to himself.

"Mum," he began, as she began to fix his collar. "There is something I need to tell you..."

"Whatever you have to say is not going to excuse you for being late," she said promptly. "Same goes for your father."

"Oh, am I in trouble already?"

Both Alex and Evy froze as they saw Rick appearing into the room, looking incredibly clean and proper in his suit and tie. In his hand, he held a bouquet of lily flowers, one of Evy's favorites.

"Oh... uh... hello darling," Evy responded a bit unsure of how to react to Rick cleaning up. Rick merely smiled at his wife and admired her beautiful outfit.

"Wow... you look great, Evy," he said, coming closer to her. "Alex, did you tell her?"

"Uh..." began Alex, but before he could finish, Rick merely waved his hand, a sign for Alex not to say anything else.

"No worries if you did," he responded. He came up to Evy and kissed her lightly a few times before presenting her the bouquet of flowers. She took them hesitantly as Rick went to kiss her tenderly on the cheek.

"Happy anniversary, Evy," he said with a whisper.

Evy blinked a few times before continuing, "Oh Rick! You... you... remembered..."

"Of course I did!" he said with a grin. He went over and ruffled Alex's hair, which Evy had just finished fixing. "Of course, I had a little help here from Alex. Without him, I probably would have no idea."

Evy laughed a bit nervously, realizing that her plan was pretty much gone. She shot a quick look at Alex, which was a mix of anger and confusion. Alex merely gulped at his mother's look and looked away from her gaze, now feeling he was in a bit of an awkward position.

"Now, we'd better get going!" Rick said with a grin, tugging at Evy's hand.

"Where are we going?" she asked.

"I made reservations at a restaurant, The Quagmire_, _for us at eight! It was also Alex's idea," he said with a smile as Alex continued to look away, feeling incredibly awkward.

Evy smiled at Rick but could not help think, _Well, there go my restaurant reservations... hopefully the restaurant doesn't get too mad that I don't show up._

Before Evy could say anything else, Jonathan suddenly walked in from another room, looking a lot cleaner than he had in the morning. He looked at both Rick and Evy with a smile, admiring their outfits. It wasn't until he saw Evy's surprised face that he realized that Rick had remembered their anniversary and that her plan was not going to work. He felt bad for his sister, but he could not help but smirk at the circumstance she found herself in.

"Well, you two are looking rather spiffy tonight, eh?" he said with a wink. "Off on a night on the town?"

Evy now looked incredibly flustered and frustrated with her brother, keeping her arms to her sides, balling up her fists. It was taking all of her energy not to run over and sock her brother a good one.

Rick, completely unaware of Evy's frustration, merely nodded at Jonathan's question. "Yup... off to have a fancy English meal. Say... do you mind watching over Alex tonight?"

"Oh... but of course!" he said with a cheeky grin. "No plans tonight! I would love to watch over Alex."

Rick raised an eyebrow. "You have no plans? Is that supposed to be a joke?"

Jonathan shook his head. "No... I think it's perfectly fine to have a night off from the party scene."

"Oh, and how is that affair going with that... Claudia lady?" asked Rick, his face scrunching up because he did not really approve of Jonathan's sleeping around.

Jonathan just merely shrugged. "I ended it with the old girl," he said with a frown. "She was devastated but it had to be done."

Rick merely nodded. "That's good. I hope this teaches you to leave married women alone. Next time... go for someone who's actually single, alright?"

Jonathan laughed. "When the married ones stop flocking to me, sure," he said with a grin.

Rick shook his head and laughed. "Alright everyone, we gotta get going. We don't want to miss our reservations. Don't wait up!"

Evy smiled at Rick but her thoughts were racing. She had no idea how she was going to bring up the subject of Ahm Shere now. Rick grabbed her by the hand and they walked out the door together. As soon as the door slammed behind them, Jonathan got into a fit of giggles.

"Oh boy, poor Evy's plan isn't going to work out like she hoped," he said with a chuckle. "I am interested to see the results. How about you Alex?"

Alex sat down at the bottom step of the stairs, his face buried in his hands. Now suddenly concerned for his nephew, Jonathan crouched down to Alex's level and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Are you okay there, Alex?" he asked as he gently gripped his shoulder. "What's wrong?"

Alex looked up at Jonathan. His face looked pale, and he looked incredibly stressed.

"Uncle Jon," began Alex, his voice quavering a bit. "They are going to get a divorce... and it's all my fault!"

* * *

The Quagmire was a very respectable restaurant meant only for the high class of London. The restaurant was lit up like a chandelier, and very respectable people in only the fanciest wears were going in and out of the restaurant.

Rick, with Evy wrapping an arm around his shoulder, walked into the restaurant, heads held up high. Rick looked incredibly confident, while Evy just looked slightly nervous. She had to think of a way to bring up the Ahm Shere dig without upsetting him too much. This may prove to be a challenge.

As Rick went to go talk to the host about their reservations, it left Evy time to think. What could she do? There really was no way that she could easily bring up the conversation, and she knew that, regardless of what she wanted, Rick would probably not be willing simply because he wanted to protect her.

_I don't need any sort of protection, _she thought to herself, furrowing her brow as she did so._ I've proven myself to be able to handle any tough situations as well as he can. He should know that._

The host took out two menus from behind his post and then led Rick and Evy into the restaurant. Further inside, you could see endless amounts of tables draped with white tablecloths and topped with some of the finest china. Many of the patrons of the restaurant were too busy drinking, eating and having a great time to notice anything else.

When they had arrived at their reserved table, the host helped Evy sit by pulling out her chair for her and scooting it in as she sat. Evy nodded at the host, appreciative of the gesture. He then went on to hand them the menus before leaving to return to his post.

Rick took a small glance at the menu, but couldn't help but to look over at Evy and smile. "This place looks great, doesn't it?"

Evy smiled at her husband and patted his hand lightly. "Yes it does darling, you picked a wonderful location."

Rick smirked, proud that he was able to accomplish what was already looking like a good night. He, of course, knew that this success was all thanks to Alex, but it didn't mean that he couldn't be happy and proud of himself, as well.

Evy took this opportunity to hide behind her menu. She needed to think of something to say... something... anything.

_C'mon old girl, _she thought to herself. _You shouldn't be afraid to tell him how you feel. The original plan has fallen through but you are a strong woman. Go and tell him how you feel. Let him have it! Do NOT take no for an answer! Tell him you want to go to Ahm Shere and he is not stopping you!_

The confidence in her was rising. She looked over her menu to see Rick, still contemplating about the menu, whispering that the "steak looked good".

Noticing her staring, he looked at her and smiled. "So," he began, finally putting the menu aside. "This is nice. It's rare whenever we ever get to actually hang out together outside of the house."

Evy briefly smiled, but then her face expressed her determination. "Rick," she began, her voice stern and clear. "I need to..."

But before she could continue, the waiter came by and began pouring white wine into each of their glasses. Rick nodded to the waiter, who left the remainder of the bottle in a chilled ice bucket.

"Hey! Why don't we propose a toast?" Rick asked, eyes twinkling.

"Rick, no... I need to talk to you..."

"A toast to thirteen happy years of marriage," he said with a grin as Evy frowned, annoyed at another interruption. "Still as in love as when we first met. Let's continue to have another stress free marriage full of love and stuff."

Rick enthusiastically raised his glass, expecting Evy to clink immediately. Evy was sulking a bit, still frustrated. She reluctantly raised her glass and clinked with his glass. Both of them drank their wine but only Evy finished hers in a couple of quick gulps.

Rick blinked a few times, impressed at Evy's ability to down her drink so quickly without having eaten yet. He coughed a few times before trying to carry on a conversation.

"So," he began, "how is work going at the British Museum?"

Evy looked up at him with her big hazel eyes. She only just realized how perfect of an opportunity this was to jump into the topic.

_This is it, Evy, _she thought, trying to give herself some motivation. _It's now or never. Tell him how you feel and why you are going to do it._

"Work is going a bit slow right now," she said promptly. "I had a lot of paperwork piling up on me but I was finally able to catch up on some of it. Bembridge scholars are really thankful to have me over there, but sometimes I feel like they will never give me a chance to breathe."

"Well... at least some of that paper work is done," Rick responded with a smile. "I'm glad that you at least have something to do that revolves around something you love so much."

Evy smiled a bit, while also feeling extremely nervous about what she was going to do next. She inhaled and exhaled deeply before she began to talk.

"So," she began cautiously, looking at Rick straight in the eye as she did so. He was too busy drinking a bit more wine to notice, but he was still listening. "I don't know if you heard, but there is a man funding an expedition to Ahm Shere right now."

Rick had to force himself to swallow the rest of the wine that was in his mouth. His face scrunched up from the sudden quick gulp. His throat was now burning thanks to the alcohol. He looked up at Evy, who looked incredibly serious.

_It's been so long since she's even mentioned anything about Egypt, _he thought to himself. _Why is she bringing this up? This does not look like it's going to end well._

Rick cleared his throat a bit before continuing. "Yeah... uh... Alex told me about it, a bit. They are looking for the Book of the Dead, right?" he asked. Evy merely nodded.

Rick could not help but feel a bit nervous. This was most definitely not going to turn out too well. "I was actually sort of surprised that you didn't tell me about it before," he said. "You usually go out of your way to tell me things like this."

"Yes well," she said, "from a bit of digging I did at the British Museum, they are still there right now. The expedition began about four days ago and there has been no record of them finding anything yet."

"Really now?" Rick responded cautiously. "I don't exactly expect them to find much buried under all that sand. Ahm Shere went down pretty badly. I don't really expect them to find the book."

Evy merely shook her head. "That book is the source of so much power and incantations. I _highly _doubt it has simply disappeared. I am confident that it is buried around where Ahm Shere once stood."

Rick looked at her with a nervous glance. "Uh, Evy," he began. "I know where this is going. And I really don't like where this is going. So can we talk about it another time and just enjoy our anniversary dinner?"

Evy shook her head. "No Rick, we can't," she responded firmly. "In fact, I have been doing my absolute best to try and suppress my want of going on expeditions and archeological digs for so long. I can't keep _hiding _my true feelings about all this anymore. So please, just listen to me."

Rick sighed. Once Evy got passionate about something, there was no stopping her from talking about anything else.

He merely nodded at her in response.

"Thank you," she said, appreciatively. "Rick, you know I love you, and I understand why you don't want me to ever go back to our old adventurous lifestyle. Truly, I do. Losing me five years ago must have been dreadful."

"But we shouldn't let that stop us from living our lives," she continued, eyes twinkling. "I can't be the only one dying to go back to Egypt. You used to be more of an adventurer than I was before. Surely you have been craving to go back and do something, too."

Rick sighed. It was true, he had been itching to get back into the field. He had been on adventures and gotten into trouble for most of his life, and having five years worth of quiet was finally taking its toll. So much that, when Evy mentioned Ahm Shere, he couldn't help but feel his heart race. The exhilarating thought of chasing bad guys and finding rare artifacts just excited him.

But he knew why he couldn't go back to that life. He wanted Evy and Alex to be safe. And he needed to try and have Evy realize this.

"Evy," he began, his tone soft and face looking apologetic. "Look, I know that "Egypt is in your blood" and that you've been dreaming about it since you were a girl, but we are retired now. We have no need to go back. There are no more mummies to chase and the world does not need saving."

Evy shook her head. "You're wrong. There is a reason. Recently... I've been having dreams about my past life again."

Rick's eyes widened at this. Now he _knew _for a fact that, if this was going to involve Evy's old past life in Egypt, then nothing good was going to come out of it at all.

"I think... there is something that I'm supposed to know," she continued, taking note of Rick's surprise and displeasure at the mention of her past regal life. "But I can't seem to remember. The dreams get clearer and clearer every day, and I feel that, eventually, I'll be able to know what it is that I am supposed to remember."

Evy looked up at Rick with a soft expression on her face. "Rick," she began. "I don't think our destiny with Egypt is over. In fact, I think this is only the beginning of an adventure that we are both destined to take."

Rick scoffed and gave Evy a frustrated look. "_We? _No. No, no, no. A thousands times no, Evy! Last time you had "dreams" about your past life, you got killed. _Killed. _You tell me that you want to go to Ahm Shere and Egypt to go find out more about what's going on?"

"Well not just that," she said. "I also wanted to take a trip back to Hamunaptra. The Book of Amun-Ra may still be out there and I want to retrieve it. I told you how much the book has fascinated me since I was young. If it is still out there, I am not going to miss a chance to get it."

Rick looked at her with a raised eyebrow. "So... what are you saying?"

"I'm saying," she began slowly. "That, as much as I would love to have your blessing to go on this trip, even if you don't agree on letting me go, I am going to go anyway. Five years of being cooped up here and I am _bored _of this life. I need to be out in the field. It's where I belong. And if you cannot accept that, then unfortunately I am just going to have to go by myself."

Rick had a panicked look on face right after she said those words. "No, Evy. You can't go. You can't just leave..."

"I do NOT need your permission to do what I feel is right," she said, now frustrated with her husband. "This is what I want to do and you can't stop me."

Rick was now angry at Evy. "So my feelings about this don't matter to you?"

Evy scoffed. "Of course they matter! But no matter what, you would never let me go because of your stupid fear of me dying again."

"It is NOT stupid!" Rick exclaimed. "We actually did lose you. WE did. Me, Alex and Jonathan. If you were to go off on your own and you couldn't find the Book of the Dead or the Book of Amun-Ra and you somehow got into trouble, you could die for real. Think of Alex. Do you want him to be without a mom simply because of your selfish need to be in Egypt?"

"Alex feels the same way as I!" Evy exclaimed, their argument now drawing the attention of some of the patrons in the restaurant. "He is he spitting image of the two of us. Do you think he enjoys not going on digs anymore? We brought him up to go on adventures with us ever since he was born. Do you know why he goes to the library so often? Because reading stories are the closest thing to an adventure he'll get, because you don't want to risk it."

Rick slammed his fist on the table, now agitated. "I am NOT going to look like the bad guy here!" he exclaimed to her. "I am doing this because I love you both. Yes, you're right. I DO miss being in the field. I really do. But you know what? My family is a little bit more important to me than what I want."

"Don't you see, Rick?" she said, crossing her arms. "You keeping us from doing what we love IS selfish."

Rick shook his head. "Well then, if that's what it takes to protect you both, then yes. I am selfish. I am so selfish that I want to see my family live a normal life, alive and well."

"Enough to even risk their happiness and wants?" she asked.

Rick sighed. "I'm not trying to be a bad guy here! I just want to pr..."

Sick of Rick constantly repeating the same thing over and over again, Evy had had enough. She was frustrated and full of emotion. She was trying her very best not to let her anger get the better of her, but the words that came out next just spilled out of her without warrant.

"You are not the same man I married years ago!"

There was sudden silence. A few gasps could be heard from some of the patrons who were listening in, as their argument was getting heated and loud. Evy only realized what she'd said after the words came out of her mouth. She gasped and clasped her hands to her mouth, shocked at what she had just said.

Rick blinked a few times, unsure what to say in response to Evy's outburst. In haste, he reached into his pocket and took out some money, slammed it onto the table and then took off without another word.

Evy looked on in horror. They'd had fights before, but this was the worst that they had ever had. She could feel herself going red as the patrons began to whisper among themselves while they went back to their business. Her thoughts raced.

_What have I done? I hurt his feelings... Oh, no... God knows what he must be thinking right now._

As quickly as she could, she got up from the table and exited the restaurant, running in her heels. She had no idea where Rick was, but she knew that she had to apologize.

* * *

Ten minutes and Evy had still not found her husband. She had her heels in her hand, as she got too tired running around in them. She was beginning to worry. She was already a few blocks away from The Quagmire and he wasn't nearby where their car was parked.

She then turned a street and her heart finally settled down a bit.

Rick was sitting on the sidewalk with his head hanging low. He looked incredibly sad, but he was doing his best to not allow anyone to see him.

Evy immediately approached him and bent down to his level. She placed a hand on his shoulder, which caused him to look up at her. His eyes were twinkling a bit, almost like he was trying to suppress tears, but Evy could not be sure. Regardless, seeing him look so defeated really broke her heart.

"Are you okay, Rick?" she asked tentatively.

Rick merely sighed. "Not really."

Evy frowned. She didn't know what to do. He had every right to be upset with her. What she said was awful.

She was going to give him a hug when she noticed a small little box by his feet. It was wrapped really poorly with shiny wrapping paper and topped with a red ribbon. Evy picked it off the ground and examined it further.

"What's this?" she asked.

Rick sniffled a bit before answering her. "It's for you... open it"

Evy nodded and proceeded to remove the wrapping paper off the gift. Once she did, she was left with a velvet box. Once she opened the box, she gasped at what was inside.

There was a very elegant necklace inside, shining brightly even in the night. The chain was made of sterling silver, smooth and clean. In the middle of the necklace there was a pendant of a lotus flower. It was small and silver as well, with little diamonds encrusted in the petals. In the middle of the flower, there was a bright blue jewel, glistening before Evy's eyes.

She was in complete awe of the gift. But that wasn't all. In the box, there was a little card. She took it and read it out loud.

"To Evy, the women whom I fell in love with. We went from me saving you, to you saving me. Let's continue to save one another for the rest of our lives. Your beauty is endless like a lotus flower, and I will love you no matter what. Love, Rick."

Evy turned to face Rick, who merely smiled a bit before it returned into a frown.

"Happy anniversary I guess," he said with a shrug.

Evy began to cry. She raised her arms and engulfed Rick in them, forcing him into a big hug. Rick was a bit shocked at this but he immediately returned it, wrapping his arms around her in a strong embrace.

"I am so sorry," she said, in the middle of her sobs. "I didn't mean what I said."

"I know, I know," he whispered to her. "I'm sorry for being such a prick to you. I should have really considered your feelings about... everything."

Evy sniffled a bit, trying to stop crying. "I'm sorry for being selfish," she responded. "I just... get really passionate about..."

"Egypt, I know," Rick said with a smile. "Listen...I'm still afraid of losing you like I almost did last time. But you're right. It isn't right for me to hold you back."

"And it's also not right of me to try and force you to understand why I want to go" Evy said.

Rick nodded. "We were both wrong. But hey...I'm willing to try and work this out another day. We can talk about it and maybe figure out some sort of compromise. I want you to be safe but... I also want you to be happy."

Evy wiped away her face with her hands, as her eyeliner and mascara were now running. She smiled brightly at her husband. "I would love that. And I think this time, we will both be willing to listen to one another."

Rick stood up from the sidewalk and helped Evy up as well, pulling her into another hug, which was more soft and tender. As they did, Rick couldn't help but a laugh a bit, confusing Evy.

"What is it?" she asked.

"Some anniversary... right?"

Evy smiled. "Not exactly the best, but not necessarily the worst either. However, I don't think we'll be allowed back into that restaurant."

The two laughed together, now both a lot happier than they were a few minutes ago. Rick pulled Evy into a small little kiss, which then became passionate. Evy dropped the high heels in her hand to wrap her arms around his shoulders, while his hands rested on her hips. Rick dipped her a bit and deepened the kiss, their mouths crashing against one another in amidst the passion. They explored each other's mouths, uncaring of anyone who might have been watching them.

When the kiss ended, they merely smiled at each other lovingly, their arms still wrapped around one another. Rick broke their embrace and bent down to pick up Evy's shoes for her. He then proceeded to pick Evy up. Evy was not expecting it, so she squealed but it soon immediately turned to laughter.

"C'mon, let's get to the car and go home," he said with a smile.

Rick then proceeded to carry Evy back to the car, the two exchanging small little kisses along the way.

* * *

_A few minutes later at the O'Connell Manor..._

"You know, the night is still young."

"Hmm?"

Rick and Evy had finally arrived to their home after a very interesting and somewhat disaster of a dinner. Evy was smiling at Rick, which he returned as well as they walked up to the little pathway that led to their house.

"Why don't we all go out to the Manchester Arms Pub?" she asked with a shrug. "You, me, Alex and Jonathan. It'd be fun just to hang out with the whole family at night."

Rick laughed. "Are you saying that you want to take Alex to a pub with us? Who are you and what have you done with my wife?"

Evy scoffed at Rick. "Oh please... I'm sure Barry would be alright with us bringing him along. Besides... he loves us!"

"Yeah... us. Jonathan... not so much," Rick said with a snicker.

The two had finally reached the steps that led to the front doors of the mansion. They stopped right in front of it to kiss each other a few times, wrapping their arms around one another again.

"So... what do you say?" Evy asked.

"I think... that is a great idea," he said with a grin. "Should we take the car?"

"It's not far but I'd rather not walk out at night dressed like this," Evy said with a shrug.

"Would it be really cruel to make Jonathan the designated driver?" Rick asked with a cheeky smile.

Evy laughed before pulling Rick into another kiss again, whispering. "It would be... do it."

The two then walked up the steps and up to the door, still laughing. Rick then proceeded to pull out the keys from his pocket and to put them into the lock. He unlocked the door and pushed open the door before entering.

"We're back!" Rick exclaimed.

"C'mon, Alex! Jonathan!" Evy shouted as both she walked into the living room. "Get your coats! We are going..."

Evy and Rick stood frozen in their tracks once they had entered their living room, surprised at what they had found.

Hanging near the wine cabinet in the corner of the living room was a black man sporting a suit and aviation goggles. He took out a bottle of wine from the cabinet, smiling at it with glee, showing his not so great teeth. When he looked up, he noticed Evy and Rick and squealed, doing his best not to drop the bottle. He smiled at them and tried to shove the bottle back into the cabinet.

One the couch was Alex, talking casually to an unknown man and woman. The man, who was younger than the woman, looked as though he was truly enjoying his conversation with the boy, while the woman merely stared at Alex like he was a ghost. They all noticed Rick and Evy and looked up at them. Alex ran over to them while the man shook the woman, who was now staring at Rick and Evy the same way she was looking at Alex earlier.

And walking up to them casually from the other corner of the room where Evy's bookshelves were was a man dressed in black robes. He was very tan and handsome, his face sporting hieroglyphic marks. When they first entered the room, he looked very serious and stoic. But as he approached them, he was smiling brightly at the two of them. He stopped right in front of them and nodded.

"Wonderful to see you after all these years, O'Connell. Evelyn," he said.

Rick and Evy were both shocked. They didn't know what to say. They looked at one another, trying to see how the other one was feeling. Evy's face went from surprised to a giant grin. She went over to the robed man and wrapped her arms around him, pulling him into a big hug.

Rick could not help covering his face with one hand and sighing deeply, frustrated and confused over why all these people were in his house. Regardless, he knew one thing for sure. He turned his back to everyone and whispered to himself:

_Here we go again..._

* * *

**Here we go again **_**indeed **_**Rick! Well folks, looks like the O'Connells are finally about to catch up with what happened at Ahm Shere. Next chapter is the beginning of the action and fun that we all know and love from **_**The Mummy**_** movies. Ah! Until next time!**

**Thanks again for reading!**


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